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THE 

STORY OF JONCAIRE 

HIS LIFE AND TIMES 
ON THE NIAGARA 



BY 

FRANK H. SEVERANCE 



BUFFALO 
1906 






6 



LIBHARY of CONGRESS 
Two Conips Received 

JUL 23 1906 

n Copy r Ik Ml Entry 

/ Class c2^:xxc. no. 



/<^ 



COPT B. 



^^ 



Copyright, 1906 
By F. H. severance 



T^O MY FELLOW MEMBERS IN 
THE BOARD OF MANAGERS 
OF THE BUFFALO HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY THIS LITTLE STUDY IN 
THE HISTORY OF OUR HOME 
REGION IS CORDIALLY INSCRIBED 



Of this impression 
Fifty Copies only 
for presentation 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE. 

Introduction vii 

I Fr©*4 the Rhone to the Niagara i 

II Joncaire among the Senegas — A Royal Mission lo 

III Joncaire wins English Enmity 23 

IV The House by the Niagara Rapids 31 

V The British covet the Niagara Trade 45 

VI Visitors at Magazin Royal — The Huguenot Spy of the 

Niagara 47 

VII Governor Burnet gets Interested 55 

VIII The Building of Fort Niagara 62 

IX The Men Who Achieved the Work 74 

X Political Aspect of the Strife on the Niagara 84 

XI Fort Niagara and the Fur Trade 97 

XII Annals of the Wilderness 109 

XIII Joncaire among the Shawanese — His Death at Niagara 124 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE 

HIS LIFE AND TIMES ON THE NIAGARA 



BY FRANK H. SEVERANCE 



INTRODUCTION 

The following chapters are a portion of an extended study, as 
yet unpublished, of the operations of the French on the Lower 
Lakes, with especial reference to the history of the Niagara region. 
The sources from which the narrative is drawn are almost wholly 
documentary, both printed and in manuscript. The most important 
printed sources are the "London Documents" and "Paris Docu- 
ments," which constitute volumes five and nine of the "Documents 
relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York." In 
order to avoid cumbering my pages with inany foot-notes referring 
to these documents, this general acknowledgment of authorities is 
here deemed sufficient. Some examination of the manuscripts them- 
selves has been made in various depositories, especially the Public 
Records Office and the British Museum in London, the Canadian 
Archives Office at Ottawa, and in the manuscripts office of the New 
York State Library at Albany. Some facts have been gleaned from 
the Provincial Records of Pennsylvania. There is to be found in 
the printed histories so little regarding Joncaire the elder and the 
special field of his activities, that one may ignore them all with 
little loss, if he have access to the documentary sources, and patience 
to study them. With the exception of the short but precious "His- 
toire du Canada" of the Abbe de Belmont; the "Histoire de 
I'Amerique septentrionale" of De Bacqueville de La Potherie (Paris. 
1753) ; the works of Charlevoix and one or two other chroniclers 



viii THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

who were contemporary with the events of which they wrote, the 
following narrative is based entirely on the documents themselves. 
The reader should bear in mind, moreover, that these chapters are 
but an excerpt, as already stated, from a study of the whole period 
of French occupancy of our region; and that the true relationship 
and proper values of those events, depend largely on what has pre- 
ceded, and what is to follow, these forty years which I have desig- 
nated the Dark Decades on the Niagara. F. H. S. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE 

HIS LIFE AND TIMES ON THE NIAGARA 



I. From the Rhone to the Niagara. 

In tracing the history of the Niagara region, one comes 
to a time when records seem to vanish and exploits to cease. 
The story of the early cross-bearers and explorers is much 
more than twice told. The splendid adventuring of La Salle 
has been made the most familiar chapter in the annals of 
the Great Lakes. After him, in the closing years of the 
seventeenth century, a few expeditions, a few futile cam- 
paigns and fated undertakings, have been meagerly chron- 
icled. We read of Le Barre's foolish and fruitless plans, 
of Denonville's pathetic and calamitous establishment at 
the mouth of the Niagara. But with the passing of La Salle 
from the pages of our regional history, the light wanes, the 
shadows deepen. We are come to the Dark Decades on 
the Niagara. 

So one may fairly designate the first forty years of the 
eighteenth century. Speaking broadly, they are a part of 
the century-long strife between France and England for 
American supremacy. There were periods, it is true, in 
these decades, when the rivals were nominally at peace. The 
Treaty of Ryswick, after King William's War, proclaimed 
a peace that was kept from 1697 till 1702; and following 
Queen Anne's War, the Treaty of Utrecht warded off armed 



2 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

hostilities from 1713 to 1744. Thus for thirty-five years — 
seven eighths of the period under notice — there was politi- 
cal peace between France and England; but on the Niagaia, 
and the Great Lakes which it joins, there was never a day 
in all those forty years when the spirit of commercial war- 
fare was not active. 

During these years, the American colonies of the rival 
powers were developing along widely divergent lines. 
France established her distant posts, throughout the lake 
and trans-Alleghany region, her very energy weakening her 
for future defense. The English colonies, and New York in 
particular, devoted themselves more to developing the home 
territory. Both cajoled and bargained with the Indians, both 
exhausted themselves in fighting each other. It was the 
time when the slave trade was encouraged; when piracy 
flourished. But recently were the days when Captain Kidd 
and Morgan and Blackbeard and their kind "sailed and they 
sailed" ; and the attention of New York's governors was 
divided between lawless and red-handed exploits on the seas, 
the quarrels of their legislative councillors, and the inter- 
ference of the French in their reach for the fur trade. 

Throughout these Dark Decades there is a figure in our 
regional history which, strive as we may, is at best but 
dimly seen. Now it stands on the banks of the Niagara, a 
shadowy symbol of the power of France. Now it appears 
in fraternal alliance with the Iroquois ; and anon it vanishes, 
leaving no more trace than the wiliest warrior of the Sen- 
ecas, silently disappearing down the dim aisles of his native 
forest. Yet it is around this illusive figure that the story 
of the Niagara centers for forty years. 

This man is the French interpreter, soldier, and Seneca 
by adoption, commonly spoken of by our historical writers 
as Chabert de Joncaire the elder. He never attained high 
rank in the service ; he was a very humble character in com- 
parison with several of his titled superiors who were con- 
spicuous in making the history of our region during the time 
of his activity hereabouts. But it was primarily through his 
skilful diplomacy, made efficient by his peculiar relations to 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 3 

the Indians, that France was able to gain a foothold on the 
Niagara, for trade and for defense, and to maintain it for 
more than a quarter of a century. 

His baptismal name was Louis Thomas, de Joncaire ; his 
seigneurial title, Sieur de Chabert. The son of Antoine Marie 
and Gabriel Hardi, he was born, in the year 1670, in the 
little town of St. Remi, of the diocese of Aries, in Provence. 
As a child, he may have played amid the mighty ruins of 
Roman amphitheatres and palaces, and have grown up fami- 
liar with monuments of a civilization which antedated by 
many centuries the Christian era. He came to Canada when 
still a boy, presumably with the marine troops, largely from 
Provence, which accompanied the Chevalier de Vaudreuil 
in 1687. Many years his senior, Vaudreuil often appears as 
his patron and staunchest friend, defending his character 
when villified, and commending him for favor and promo- 
tion. With the facility of the young in picking up the Indian 
speech, Joncaire was soon expert as interpreter. At a later 
period, he enlisted, and held various ranks ; in 1700, quar- 
termaster to the Governor's Guard ; by 1706, a lieutenant of 
the marine forces in Canada. The posts of honor and respon- 
sibility which he held later in life will be duly noted in our 
narrative. 

At an early period Joncaire and several companions were 
taken captive by the Iroquois. I find no account of the time 
or place of Joncaire's capture. In view of his relations to 
Vaudreuil, it is not unlikely that he accompanied that officer 
in the expedition against the Senecas in 1687, and that he 
was taken prisoner. The earliest account of his captivity 
that I find is given by Bacqueville de La Potherie, who 
says : "He was taken in a battle ; the fierceness with which 
he fought a war chief who wished to bind him in order to 
burn his fingers, until the sentence of death could be carried 
out, induced the others to grant him his life, his comrades 
having all been burned at a slow fire. They [i. e., the Iro- 
quois] adopted him, and the confidence which they had in 
him thenceforth, led them to make him their mediator in all 



4 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

negotiations."^ He passed much of his subsequent Ufe 
among the Senecas, and though he won distinction for his 
service to his king and the cause of Canada, he seems never 
to have forfeited the confidence of his red brethren. He did 
not, Hke many prisoners of the period, wholly sever his con- 
nection with his own people. On the contrary, his intimacy 
with the Senecas proved of the greatest value to Canada in 
the promotion of her plans for trade. 

Whenever Joncaire may have been taken prisoner, he 
was released in the autumn of 1694, with twelve other pris- 
oners, one of whom was M. de Hertel,- a French officer 
whose services were of some note at a subsequent period. 
Father Milet, who had been held a prisoner among the 
Oneidas since 1689, was returned to the French at the same 
time. Joncaire had then lived among the Senecas for sev- 
eral years, and had been adopted by a Seneca family to fill 
the place of "a relative of importance," whom they had lost. 
"He ingratiated himself so much with that nation," says 
Colden, "that he was advanced to the rank of a sachem, and 
preserved their esteem to the day of his death ; whereby he 
became, after the general peace, very useful to the French 
in all negotiations with the Five Nations, and to this day 



1. La Potherie was a contemporary of Joncaire, and his "Histoire de 
L'Amerique septentrionale," published in Paris in 1753, contains the fullest 
early account of Joncaire's captivity I have been able to find. La Potherie 
is apparently Parkman's authority; yet I find no other basis than the passage 
above quoted for the following, in "Frontenac and New France under Louis 
XIV.": "The history of Joncaire was a noteworthy one. The Senecas had 
captured him some time before, tortured his companions to death, and doomed 
him to the same fate. As a preliminary torment, an old chief tried to burn 
a finger of the captive in the bowl of his pipe, on which Joncaire knocked 
him down. If he had begged for mercy, their hearts would have been flint; 
but the warrior crowd were so pleased with this proof of courage that they 
adopted him as one of their tribe, and gave him an Iroquois wife." Evidently 
the historian has read into the meager account of La Potherie certain pic- 
turesque — and highly probable — details drawn from his own knowledge of 
Indian customs and character. As for Joncaire's Indian wife, her existence is 
also highly probable; but I find no proof of it in contemporary records. 

2. "Orchouche, avec les Ouiengiens, ramene 13 esclaves; entre autres, 
M. de Hertel et M. de Joncaire." — Belmont, "Histoire du Canada," p. 36. The 
Abbe de Belmont was Superior of the Seminary at Montreal, 1713 to 1724. 
His MS. history is in the Royal Library at Paris. 



THE STORY OP JONCAIRE. 5 

they show regard to his family and children."^^ There is no 
implication here, nor in any other writer who may be called 
contemporary with Joncaire, that he married a Seneca 
woman. On March i, 1706, at Montreal, he married Made- 
line le Guay, by whom, from 1707 to 1723, he had ten chil- 
dren,* several of whom died in infancy, and but two of 
whom came to bear a part in their country's history. The 
eldest child, Philippe Thomas de Joncaire, born Jan. 9, 1707, 
is known by his father's title, Chabert, and by many writers 
the two are more or less confused.^ The seventh child, 
Daniel, Sieur de Chabert et Clausonne, commonly called 
Clausonne, was born in 1716, Both of these sons followed in 
their father's footsteps, and for many years are conspicuous 
figures in the history of the Niagara region. 

The first public service in which we find the senior Jon- 
caire employed was not until six years after his release by 
the Iroquois. He was at the conference in Montreal, July 
18, 1700, between the Chevalier de Callieres and six deputies 
from the Iroquois, two from the Onondagas and four from 
the Senecas. Pledges of peace were made in the figurative 
language employed on such occasions. Callieres was solicit- 
ous about certain Frenchmen and Indian allies of the French 
who were still held in the Iroquois country. The deputies 
declared their willingness to restore them, and asked as a 
special favor that Joncaire return with them, to fetch out the 
captives. This request was granted, Father Bruyas and the 
Sieur de Maricourt being also sent along, the two former to 



3. Colden's "History of the Five Indian Nations of Canada," (London, 
1747), p. 179. 

4. Tanguay, "Dictionnaire Geneologique." The following data are given 
regarding Joncaire's children: Philippe Thomas, b. Jan. 9, 1707; Madelaine, 
b. May 8, 1708, d. 1709; Jean Baptiste, b. Aug. 25, 1709, d. 1709; Louis 
Romain, b. Nov. 18, 1710; Marie Madelaine, b. April, 1712, d. 1712; Louis 
Marie, b. Oct. 28, 1715; Daniel, b. 1716; Madelaine Therese, b. March 23, 
1717; Louis Marie, b. Aug. s, 1719; Francois, b. June 20, 1723. The family 
home seems always to have been at or near Montreal. Madame de Joncaire, 
mother of these children, is buried in the church at Repentigny. 

5. In Parkman's "Half Century of Conflict," Joncaire and his oldest son 
are spoken of as the same person, and no distinction is made between them in 
the index. 



6 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

the Onondagas, Joncaire to the Senecas. "Our son Jon- 
caire," the chiefs called him ; and before the council broke 
up, they solemnly gave to Callieres three strings of wam- 
pum. "We give these," they said, "in consequence of the 
death of Joncaire's father, who managed affairs well, and 
was in favor of peace. We inform Onontio, by these strings 
of wampum, that we have selected Tonatakout, the nearest 
blood relation, to act as his father instead, as he resembles 
[him] in his disposition of a kind parent." We are to under- 
stand that this father who had died was the adoptive father, 
according to the Seneca custom. The Governor expressed 
sympathy ; approved the appointment of the new father ; 
and gave the Senecas a belt "in token of my sharing your 
sentiments ; and I consent that Sieur Joncaire act as envoy 
to convey my word to you and to bring me back yours."® 
This so pleased the chiefs that they consented that four of 
their people should remain at Montreal until their return. 

Callieres at this period was more concerned in making a 
firm peace with the savages south of Lake Ontario than 
with getting any foothold on the Niagara. In fact, for the 
time, he avoided any movement in that direction. The next 
spring, when he sent La Motte Cadillac and Alphonse de 
Tonty to make their establishment at Detroit, he had them 
follow the old Ottawa route, "by that means," he announced 
beforehand to Pontchartrain, "avoiding the Niagara pas- 
sage so as not to give umbrage to the Iroquois, through fear 
of disturbing the peace, until I can speak to them to prevent 
any alarm they might feel at such proceedings, and until I 
adopt some measures to facilitate the communication and 
conveyance of necessaries from this to that country through 
Lake Ontario." Callieres knew that the minister had very 
much at heart the success of the project on the Detroit; it 
was not politic to urge at the moment the advantages to be 
gained from a hazardous experiment on the Niagara. The 
band that built Fort Ponchartrain, thereby laying the 
foundations for the city of Detroit, went thither by the 
Ottawa route ; and although there was an occasional passage 

6. N. v. Col. Docs., IX, 711. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 7 

by way of the Niagara — a few of which we can trace, more 
of which, no doubt, we are ignorant of — yet for many years 
from the time we are now considering, the prmcipal coming 
and going between the Upper Lakes and the lower St. Law- 
rence was by the northern route. 

Joncaire spent the summer of 1700 among the Senecas in 
the furtherance of his mission. There were no permanent 
Seneca villages at this time west of the Genesee, and there 
is no ground for supposing that he visited the Niagara. 
We do not know when he first came hither. By September 
3d he was back again at Montreal, with Father Bruyas and 
Maricourt from the Onondagas, nineteen "deputies" of the 
Iroquois and thirteen prisoners for restoration to the French. 

Joncaire had found no little trouble in inducing them to 
return. Many a French soldier was brought by the fierce 
Senecas a trembling, fainting captive into their lodges, only 
to be adopted as one of the nation. An alliance with a young 
squaw, by no means always uncomely, quickly followed. 
The rigors and discomforts of the frontier post and wilder- 
ness campaign prepared him to accept with philosophy if not 
with entire satisfaction, the filth and rudeness of savage life. 
In the matters of cruelty and barbarity, the French soldier 
of the period was too often the equal of his Indian brother. 
The freedom of the forest life always appealed to the Gallic 
blood. There was adventure, there was license, there were 
often ease and abundance among his savage captors. If at 
times there were distress and danger, these, too, he had 
known in the King's service. Small wonder, then, that among 
such captives as saved their scalps by reason of some exhi- 
bition of a dauntless spirit, there were many who preferred 
to abide with the red men, in their villages pleasantly seated 
in the beautiful valleys of Central New York, to a return to 
the duties and privations of service in Canada. Once more 
among the French, they knew they need never look for mercy 
again from the Iroquois into whose hands they were ever 
likely to fall. Their point of view must have been entirely 
familiar to Joncaire ; though on this and subsequent occa- 
sions he seems faithfully to have sought to induce them to 
rrturn. 



8 IHE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Whatever may have been his course, he kept a singularly 
strong hold on the affections of the Senecas. With the party 
that went up to Montreal in September, the Senecas sent 
along a young man. "When Joncaire was in our country," 
said one of their spokesmen to the Governor, "the father of 
this youth whom we restore, was his master; but now it is 
Joncaire who is master of this young man. We give him 
in order that if Joncaire should happen to die, he may be 
regarded as his nephew and may take his place. Therefore 
it is that we give him up to Onontio, whom we beg, with 
the Intendant, to take care of him and to confine him should 
he become wild." And Callieres, as in duty bound, prom- 
ised to care for the youth, and to "furnish him everything 
he shall require to qualify him for filling some day said 
Sieur Joncaire's place." 

For some years following Joncaire was much employed 
on missions of this sort; now sojourning among the Onon- 
dagas or the Senecas, to secure the release of prisoners or 
to spy on the emissaries of the English ; now back at Mon- 
treal, interpreting at councils. In the negotiations of the 
time he seems to have been well nigh indispensable. 

At the general council at Montreal in the summer of 
1701, at which assembled not only representatives of the 
Iroquois, but of tribes from Mackinaw and the West, Jon- 
caire found himself for the time being in an embarrassing 
position. The western tribes, after great difficulty, had been 
induced to send hither the French and Iroquois prisoners, 
for exchange. Here appeared the Rat, that greatest and 
most eloquent reH man of his day, of whose eloquence, intel- 
ligence and nobility of character many writers from La 
Potherie to Parkman have testified. The Rat handed over 
to Callieres his Iroquois prisoners, and demanded to know 
why the Five Nations were not delivering up theirs ; they 
were not acting in good faith, he said. The Iroquois replied, 
through their orator Teganeout, that their young men had 
charge of the prisoners, and that the latter were unwilling 
to leave the lodges where they had lived since childhood; 
were they French or Western Indian, it mattered not ; thev 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 9 

had forgotten their own people and were attached to those 
who had adopted them, significantly adding that Joncaire 
had not very strongly urged their return, 

Joncaire rose in the council, acknowledged his fault, and 
begged the Senecas, his brethren, to help him accomplish the 
matter hereafter. High words followed, but later reconcilia- 
tion was efifected. 

A few days afterward, the council being still in session, 
the Rat died. In the obsequies that followed, Joncaire was 
singularly conspicuous. The body of the great Huron chief 
lay in state at the Hotel Dieu, in an officer's uniform, with 
side arms, for he held the rank and pay of an officer in the 
French army.'' After the Governor General and Intendant 
had sprinkled the corpse with holy water, Joncaire led sixty 
warriors from Sault St. Louis to the bier, where they wept 
for the dead, bewailing him in Indian fashion and "covered 
him," which figurative expression signifies that they gave 
presents to his tribesmen. After the imposing funeral, at 
W'hich the ritual of the Roman Catholic church was blended 
with military usage and Indian rites, Joncaire led another 
band of Iroquois to condole with and compliment the 
Hurons, with significant gifts of wampum. 

In these acts Joncaire was undoubtedly at work, not only 
for his Government, but for the Senecas and his own inter- 
ests, which from now on center more and more on the 
western boundary of the Five Nations cantons. French 
interests on the Niagara were not to be jeopardized by a 
needless rupture with the Hurons. 

At a council at Onondaga, in September, 1701, Joncaire 
encountered Capt. Johannes Bleecker and David Schuyler, 
sent out from Fort Orange, as their report has it, "to hinder 
the French debauching of our Indians." The English reports 
of these transactions are less formal and correct than are 
those of the French ; but their vigorous phraseology, height- 
ened by the ignorant or whimsical spelling of the time, adds 
a reality and picturesqueness to the chronicle which the 
Paris documents lack. Joncaire had brought an abundance 

7. Charlevoix, Shea's ed., V, 147. 



10 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

of the goods which the Indian craved, a part at least of the 
store intended for the families who consented to release 
their prisoners in exchange. Captain Bleecker and his com- 
panion were irritated at the success which Joncaire and his 
fellows had among "our Indians." "We understand," said 
Bleecker, "the French are come here to trade. Do you send 
for us to come with such people, if you send for us for every 
Frenchman that comes to trade with you, wee shall have 
work enough and if you will hearken to them they will keep 
you in alarm Continually we know this is the contrivance 
of the Priests to plague you Continually upon pretense of 
Peace and talk [to] you until you are Mad, and as soon as 
these are gott home, the Jesuits have another project if you 
will break your Cranes [craniums?] with such things; we 
advise you brethren when the French comes again, lett them 
smoak their pipe and give them their bellyfull of Victualls 
and lett them goe." 

The Dutch emissaries of the English on this occasion 
heard Joncaire take the Indians roundly to task because 
they promised more than they performed in the matter of 
returning prisoners. He spoke as one who had nothing to 
fear, and consequently his words had weight. After some 
days of it, "Monsieur Jonkeur went his wayes," says the 
English record, and the Dutchmen went back to Albany, 
their chief concern being, as from the first, to secure the 
trade of the Five Nations to themselves. Their plans for 
that trade, even at this period, involved the control of the 
Niagara River. 



II. Joncaire among the Senegas — A Royal Mission. 

From further worry over the friendship of the Iroquois, 
Callieres was spared by death, May 26, 1703 ; and a new 
and stronger Onontio took his place at the head of the 
administration in Canada. This was the Chevalier de Vau- 
dreuil, whose part in the history of our region is to continue 
important for many years. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 11 

Like his predecessor, he had had experience with the 
Seneca in his native wilds. As we have seen, Vaudreuil 
had come out from France just in time to join Denonville's 
expedition of 1687. He shared in that inglorious campaign, 
coming to the Niagara at its close, and helped to build the 
fort which was destined to be the scene of one of the most 
tragic episodes in the history of French occupancy in 
America. Vaudreuil's personal knowledge of the Niagara 
pass had no doubt its influence in shaping his policy towards 
the Iroquois. In a letter to the minister, Pontchartrain, 
Nov. 14, 1703, his first communication after the death of 
Callieres, he speaks of Joncaire's recent return from a three 
months' sojourn among the Senecas, and declares the inten- 
tion of sending him back to winter among them. This he 
did, but at the first breaking up of the ice in the spring, 
Joncaire appeared at Fort Frontenac with the news that the 
English were preparing to hold a general meeting of the 
Iroquois at Onondaga. 

The neutrality of the Five Nations had now become the 
chief object of solicitude for the French. Joncaire was speed- 
ily sent back to the Senecas, and with him the priest Vail- 
lant, that their combined efforts might defeat the seductive 
overtures of the English. Once more at Onondaga, the 
great capital of the Iroquois, he met his old adversary, Peter 
Schuyler. The Indians were as ready to listen to overtures 
from one party as the other. This attitude alarmed the 
French. Joncaire posted off to Quebec to inform Vaudreuil, 
and was sent back with messages to Ramezay, at Montreal. 

Under the sanction of the French at this time Indian 
parties fell upon certain New England settlements with dire- 
results. We must accord to Joncaire a share in the instiga- 
tion of these attacks. He was also an intermediary in nego- 
tiations with the Senecas, regarding an attack upon them by 
the Ottawas ; we find him writing to the Governor, from 
the Seneca capital, under date of July 7, 1705, that "the 
partisans of the English in these villages do all in their 
power to induce the young men to avenge the attack made 
by Outtaouais on them, and that they are restrained only 



12 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

by the hope of recovering their prisoners, and by the pro- 
ceedings they have seen me adopt." 

The King and his ministers at Versailles came to have 
great interest in the peculiar services rendered by Joncaire. 
"His Majesty," wrote Pontchartrain to Vaudreuil, June 9, 
1706, "approves your sending Sieur Jonqueres to the Iro- 
quois, because he is esteemed by them and has not the repu- 
tation of a Trader. ... I have no doubt of the truth 
of the information Sieur Jonquieres has given you respect- 
ing the intrigues of the English among the Iroquois. Con- 
tinue to order him to occupy himself with breaking them 
up, and on your part, give the subject all the attention it 
deserves." 

There is among the Paris Documents^ of the year 1706, 
a paper entitled: "Proposals to be submitted to the Court 
that it may understand the importance of taking possession 
of Niagara at the earliest date, and of anticipating the Eng- 
lish who design to do so," etc. It is unsigned. It does not 
appear to have been written either by Vaudreuil or the 
Intendant, though it was probably by the order of the former 
that it was sent to Versailles. It shows that now, seventeen 
years after the abandonment of Denonville's enterprise, 
the expediency of again attempting a permanent establish- 
ment on the Niagara was being considered. It is worth while 
to note the principal points in favor of the proposition, as 
they were drafted for the edification of the King. 

Niagara was claimed to be the best of all points for trade 
with the Iroquois. It would serve as an entrepot to the es- 
tablishment at Detroit. With a bark on Lake Ontario, goods 
could be brought from Fort Frontenac to the Niagara in a 
couple of days, thus effecting a great saving in time, with 
less risk of loss, than by the existing canoe transportation. 
"It is to be considered," argues this document, "that by this 
establishment we should have a fortress among the Iro- 
quois which would keep them in check; a refuge for our 
Indian allies in case of need, and a barrier that would pre- 



N. Y. Col. Docs., IX, 773-77S. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 13 

vent them going to trade with the EngHsh, as they begin to 
do this year, it being the place at which they cross." 

The foregoing statement fixes, if not exactly the date at 
which traders in the English interest made themselves a 
factor on the Niagara, at any rate the date when the French 
began to think they had, and seriously to fear them. In this 
crisis, they turned to Joncaire, whom the writer of these 
"Proposals" cites as "an officer of the marine forces in 
Canada, who has acquired such credit among the Iroquois, 
that they have repeatedly proposed and actually do suggest 
to him, to establish himself among them, granting him liberty 
to select on their territory the place most acceptable to him- 
self, for the purpose of living there in peace, and even to 
remove their villages to the neighborhood of his residence, in 
order to protect him against their common enemies." This 
was no doubt true, and goes far to show how closely affili- 
ated with the Senecas Joncaire had now become. But the 
proposition that follows is a singularly guileless and child- 
like specimen of statecraft. 

It was urged that the English would take no alarm if 
this good friend of the Senecas, this soldier who lived with 
the Indians in their lodges, should go to the banks of the 
Niagara "without noise, going there as a private individual 
intending simply to form an establishment for his family, at 
first bringing only the men he will require to erect and fortify 
his dwelling, and afterwards on pretence of conveying sup- 
plies and merchandise there, increasing their number insen- 
sibly, and when the Iroquois would see that goods would be 
furnished them at a reasonable rate, far from insulting us, 
they would protect and respect us, having no better friends 
than those who supply them at a low rate." The document 
goes on to show how a monopoly of the beaver trade at 
Niagara may be secured, and to discuss the necessity of 
underselling the English, a thing which the French at this 
period could not do, especially in the price of powder and 
lead, which the English furnished very cheaply to the 
Indians. 



14 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

It is suggested in the "Proposals" that the King "grant 
ten or twelve thousand weight of gunpowder and twenty or 
thirty thousand weight of lead, which would be yearly reim- 
bursed to him at the rate his Majesty purchases it from the 
contractor. This would counterbalance the price of the Eng- 
lish article; and then as our powder is better, we would 
thereby obtain the preference ; become masters of the trade 
and maintain ourselves at peace; for it cannot be doubted 
that those who will be masters of the trade will be also mas- 
ters of the Indians, and that these can be gained only in this 
way." 

All of this was to be accomplished by Joncaire's clandes- 
tine establishment at Niagara. The King was reminded, 
somewhat presumptuously, that the Niagara enterprise, on a 
liberal scale, "would be of much greater advantage and less 
expense than carrying on a war against Indians excited by 
the English." Though obviously true, this was hardly the 
way in which to win favor with the war-racked Louis. The 
"Proposals" conclude as follows : 

"After having exposed the necessity of the establishment 
of this post ; the means of effecting it without affording any 
umbrage to the Iroquois, and the most certain means to main- 
tain peace and union with the Indians, it remains for me to 
add, as respects the management of this enterprise, that it 
would be necessary to prevent all the improper Commerce 
hitherto carried on, by the transportaion of Brandy into the 
forest, which has been the cause of all existing disorders and 
evils. In order to avoid these it would be proper, that the 
Court, had it no other views, should give the charge of this 
business to our Governor and Intendant who in order to 
maintain the King's authority in Canada and to labor in con- 
cert for the public peace, would always so cooperate that the 
whole would be accomplished in a manner profitable to reli- 
gion, trade and the union with the Indians, which are the 
three objects of this establishment." 

There is in this a suggestion of priestly authorship. The 
whole document smacks more of the clerical theorist than 
of the soldier, the trader or the practical administrator of 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 15 

affairs. Its recommendations were not followed, though it 
had its effect, along with other causes, in bringing about 
an investigation into the state of affairs, not only on the 
Niagara, but at other points of trade on the lakes. 

Louis XIV, was by no means satisfied with the informa- 
tion he received through regular channels regarding the 
condition and prospects of the lake posts. He accordingly 
devised a plan for a fuller and more trustworthy report. 
Under date of June 30, 1707, instructions were sent from 
Versailles to M. de Clerambaut d'Aigremont at Quebec, 
imposing upon him a task which called for no little per- 
spicacity and tact. This gentleman, who was serving as 
sub-delegate to the Intendant,the Sieur Raudot,was directed 
to visit Fort Cataracouy (i. e., Frontenac, now Kingston, 
Ont.), Niagara, Detroit and Missilimackinac, "to verify their 
present condition, the trade carried on there and the utility 
they may be to the Colony of Canada." The letter of instruc- 
tions was long and explicit on many delicate matters regard- 
ing which the King wanted light. The administration of 
La Motte Cadillac at Detroit was especially to be inquired 
into, as many complaints and contradictory reports had 
reached the Court. Of Niagara the letter of instructions 
said : 

"His Majesty is informed that the English are endeavor- 
ing to seize the post at Niagara, and that it is of very great 
importance for the preservation of Canada to prevent them 
so doing, because were they masters of it, they would bar 
the passage and obstruct the communication with the Indian 
allies of the French, whom as well as the Iroquois they 
would attract to them by their trade, and dispose, whenever 
they please, to wage war on the French. This would deso- 
late Canada and oblige us to abandon it. 

"It is alleged that this post of Niagara could serve as an 
entrepot to the establishment at Detroit, and facilitate inter- 
course with it by means of a bark on Lake Ontario ; that 
in fine, such a post is of infinite importance for the mainten- 
ance of the Colony of Canada, and that it can be accom- 
plished by means of Sieur de Joncaire whom M. de Vau- 



16 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

dreiiil keeps among the Iroquois. His Majesty desires Sieur 
d'Aigremont to examine on the spot whether the project be 
of as great importance for that colony as is pretended, and, 
in such case, to inquire with said Sieur de Joncaire, whether 
it would be possible to obtain the consent of the Iroquois to 
have a fort and garrison there, and conjointly, make a very 
detailed report of the means which would be necessary to 
be used to efifect it, and of the expense it would require; 
finally to ascertain whether it would be desirable that he 
should have an interview with said Sieur Joncaire, and that 
they should have a meeting at Niagara." 

Word had reached Louis, which he was loth to accept, 
that Vaudreuil kept Joncaire among the Iroquois for the 
purpose of carrying on profitable trade with them, and of 
destroying the establishment at Detroit. Not the least dif- 
ficult commission with which d'Aigremont was charged was 
to inform himself as to Joncaire's conduct, and report 
thereon. 

There were further instructions, in a letter from the 
minister, Pontchartrain, July 13th; but for some reason, 
probably because the season was far advanced, d'Aigremont 
did not undertake his mission until the following summer. 
On June 5, 1708, he set out from Montreal in a large canoe, 
amply provisioned but carrying no merchandise for trade. It 
was in fact the King's express ; and so well did his sturdy 
men ply their paddles, up the swift St. Lawrence, through 
the tortuous channels of the Thousand Isles, coasting the 
uncertain lakes — fickle seas even in midsummer — making the 
great carry around the cataract of Niagara, and hastening 
by lake and river, that they accomplished the journey as far 
as Missilimackinac, stopping at the designated points long 
enough to observe and take testimony, and were back again 
at Montreal, September 12th. D'Aigremont's report, ad- 
dressed to Pontchartrain, is dated November 14th ; so that, 
allowing an average passage to France, more than a year 
and a half elapsed from the day when the King made known 
his will regarding a special investigation into the lake posts, 
till he received the report of his emissary. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 17 

That report is a document of exceptional value for the 
exact data it affords. At Fort Frontenac, where Capt. de 
Tonty was in command, d'Aigremont took the depositions of 
Indian chiefs and other principal men, much of it tending to 
show that Tonty pursued an arbitrary and selfish policy in 
his dealings both with Indian hunters and French soldiers ; 
"yet it is to be remarked," writes the King's reporter, "that 
notwithstanding all these petty larcenies, Mr. de Tonty is 
deeply in debt ; an evident proof that they have not done him 
much good. What may have driven him to it is, the numer- 
ous family he is burdened with, which is in such poor condi- 
tion as to excite pity." After pointing out the difficulty of 
keeping the Indians from carrying their peltries to the Eng- 
lish, and the advisability of maintaining and strengthening 
Frontenac, d'Aigremont goes on to tell of his visit at 
Niagara. 

He had left Fort Frontenac on June 20, 1708, and on the 
27th rounded the point that marks the mouth of the Niagara ; 
it had taken him a week to follow the north and west shores 
of the lake from Tonty's disturbed establishment. Joncaire 
had been appraised of his coming. "I found him," writes 
d'Aigremont, "at the site of the former fort." "After con- 
versing some time respecting this post, he admitted. My 
Lord, that the advantages capable of being derived from it, 
by fortifying it and placing a garrison there, would be, 
namely — that a number of Iroquois would separate from all 
their villages, and establish themselves there, by whose means 
we could always know what would be going on in those 
Villages and among the English, and that it would be 
thereby easy to obviate all the expeditions that could be 
organized against us. 

"That the Iroquois would trade off there all the moose, 
deer and bear skins, they might bring, as these peltries 
could not be transported to the English except by land, and 
consequently with considerable trouble. 

"That the Mississaguets settled at Lake Ste. Claire, 
who also convey a great many peltry to the English, will not 
fail in like manner to trade off their moose, deer and bear- 
skins there. 



18 THE STORY OF JO NC AIRE. 

"That the Miamis having, like the Mississaguets, de- 
manded by a Belt of the Iroquois a passage through their 
country to Orange to make their trade, would not fail to sell 
likewise at Niagara the skins that are difficult of transpor- 
tation by land, and this more particularly as the English 
esteem them but little. But, My Lord, these considerations 
appear to me of little importance in comparison with the 
evil which would arise from another side. This would be, 
that all the Beaver brought thither by any nations whatso- 
ever would pass to the English by means of their low-priced 
druggets, which they would have sold there by the Iroquois 
without our being ever able to prevent them, unless by sell- 
ing the French goods at the same rate as the English dis- 
pose of theirs, which cannot be. 

"It is true that this post could be of some consideration 
in respect to Detroit to which it could serve as an entrepot 
for all the goods required for purposes of trade there, which 
could be conveyed from Fort Frontenac to Niagara by 
bark; a vessel of forty tons being capable of carrying as 
many goods as twenty canoes. Though these goods could, 
by this means, be afforded at Detroit at a much lower rate 
than if carried by canoes to Niagara, the prices would be 
still much higher than those of the English. This, there- 
fore, would not prevent them drawing away from Detroit 
all the Beaver that would be brought there. 

"The post of Niagara cannot be maintained except by 
establishing that of La Galette [on the St. Lawrence, a little 
below present Ogdensburg], because the soil of Fort Fron- 
tenac being of such a bad quality, is incapable of producing 
the supplies necessary for the garrison, its last one having 
perished only from want of assistance, as they almost all 
died of the scurvy." 

D'Aigremont discussed at length the advisibility of creat- 
ing an establishment at La Galette as a base of supplies for 
Niagara; but he did not think a post could be established 
at Niagara at this time with entire success : "At least great 
precautions would [need be] taken at the present time, and 
whoever would propose an extensive establishment there 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 19 

at once would not fail to be opposed by the Iroquois. Such 
cannot be arranged with them except by means of Mr, de 
Longueuil or of Sieur Joncaire, one or other of whom could 
propose to settle among them at that point, as the Iroquois 
look on these two officers as belonging to their nation. But 
my Lord," d'Aigremont significantly adds, ''the former 
would be preferable to the latter because there is not a man 
more adroit than he or more disinterested. I do not say the 
same of the other, for I believe his greatest study is to think 
of his private business, and private business is often injuri- 
ous to public affairs, especially in this colony, as I have had 
occasion frequently to remark." 

D'Aigremont thought there was so little prospect that 
the post of Niagara could be established, that he did not 
take the trouble to report an estimate of the expense such 
a project would incur; but bearing in mind the King's 
remarks regarding the motives which led Vaudreuil to keep 
Joncaire among the Iroquois, he replied to this point as 
follows : 

"I do not think the Iroquois will suflfer the English even 
to take possession of that post [Niagara], because if they 
were masters of it, they could carry on all the trade inde- 
pendent of the former, which does not suit them. 

"The Marquis de Vaudreuil sends Sieur de Joncaire 
every year to the Iroquois. He draws from the King's 
stores for these Indians powder, lead and other articles to 
the value of 2,000 livres, or thereabouts, which he divides 
among the Five Nations as he considers best. Some there 
are who believe that he does not give them all, and that he 
sells a portion to them ; or at least that he distributes it to 
them as if it were coming from himself, thereby to oblige 
these Indians to make him presents. What's certain is, that 
he brings back from those parts a great many peltries. I 
am assured that they reach fully 1000 annually ; in the last 
voyage he made, he brought down two canoes full of them. 
He left one of them at the head of the Island of Montreal 
["hout de I'isle"], and had the peltries carted in through the 
night. As for the rest. My Lord, I do not know whether 
the Marquis de Vaudreuil has any share in this trade." 



20 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

The Minister acknowledged this report in due time. 
Writing from Versailles, July 6, 1709, he said: "In regard 
to the post of Niagara, it is not expedient under any cir- 
cumstances; and as there is no apprehension that the Iro- 
quois will take possession thereof, it is idle to think of it. 
Therefore we shall not require either Sieur Longueil, or 
Sieur Jonquaire {sic'\ for that" ; and he added that he would 
have the latter "watched in what relates to the avidity he 
feels to enrich himself out of the presents the King makes 
these Indians, so as to obviate this abuse in future." Even 
though Joncaire were chargeable with undue thrift, Pont- 
chartrain evidently felt that he was by all odds the best 
man to manage the Iroquois in the French interest. 

We here encounter for the first time insinuations against 
the character of Joncaire. In the King's service, he was 
charged with using his opportunities to enrich himself. 
There are many allusions to this not very surprising mat- 
ter, from now on. He continued for several years to come, 
in much the same employment as that which we have noted. 
He never lost the confidence of Vaudreuil — possibly, as the 
foregoing correspondence may have suggested to the reader, 
because they were allied for personal profit in a surreptitious 
fur-trade. In November, 1708, we find the Governor com- 
mending him in a letter to the Minister. "Sieur de Jon- 
caire," he writes, "possesses every quality requisite to ensure 
success. He is daring, liberal, speaks the [Seneca] lan- 
guage in great perfection, hesitates not even whenever it is 
necessary to decide. He deserves that your Grace should 
think of his promotion, and I owe him this justice, that he 
attaches himself with great zeal and affection to the good 
of the service." 

Joncaire at this period, 1708-9, was much of the time at 
Onondaga, doing what he could to counterbalance English 
influence. This was a task which yearly grew more and 
more difficult. Although Joncaire to the end of his days 
retained the good will of the Iroquois, and especially of the 
Senecas, he saw the hold of the French upon them gradu- 
ally weakened, the temptations of English trade gradually 
and effectively strengthened. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 21 

Meanwhile, there came a critical time. Schuyler and 
others in English interests, were very active at Onondaga; 
reports reached Vaudreuil that the Iroquois were declaring 
against the French, that troops were about setting out from 
Fort Orange to strike a blow. The French missionaries, 
Lamberville and Mareuil, were frightened or cajoled into 
leaving. A party of drunken Indians burned the chapel and 
priest's house at Onondaga, being set on thereto, the French 
believed, by Schuyler. Joncaire and his soldiers were at 
Sodus Bay, some forty-five miles away, when this happened. 
He sent word of it, June 14, 1709, by canoe to M. de la 
Fresniere, commanding at Frontenac. His letter^ shows 
that he was thoroughly alarmed for the safety of himself and 
men. Regaining his assurance, he went back to the Senecas. 

Just before this, his men had killed one Montour, a French- 
man among the Senecas, as alleged, in the English interest. 
Joncaire's return to the Senecas at this time won for him 
more warm praise from Vaudreuil, who wrote to Pontchar- 
train that Joncaire, "by his return to the Senecas, has given 
evidence of all the firmness that is to be expected from a 
worthy officer who has solely in view the good of his 



9. The letter referred to, sent from Sodus Bay ("Bay of the Cayugas") 
to M. de la Fresniere, commanding at Fort Frontenac, is one of the few docu- 
ments written by Joncaire known to be in existence. Its phraseology helps 
us form a just idea of the writer, who expresses himself, not as a rough 
woods-ranger might, but as one accustomed to letters and good society. This 
letter, as printed in N. Y. Col. Docs., IX, 838, is as follows: 

Bay of the Cayugas, 14 June, 1709. 

Sir — Affairs are in such confusion here that I do not consider my soldiers 
safe. I send them to you to await me at your fort, because should things 
take a bad turn for us, I can escape if alone more readily than if I have them 
with me. It is not necessary, however, to alarm Canada yet, as there is no 
need to despair. I shall be with you in twenty or twenty-five days at farthest, 
and if I exceed that time, please send my canoe to Montreal. Letters for the 
General will be found in my portfolio, which my wife will take care to deliver 
to him. If, however, you think proper to forward them sooner, St. Louis 
will hand them to you. But I beg of you that my soldiers may not be the 
bearers of them, calculating with certainty to find them with you when I 
arrive, unless I e-xceed twenty-five days. 

The Revd. Father de Lamberville has placed us in a terrible state of 
embarrassment by his flight. Yesterday, I was leaving for Montreal in the 
best possible spirits. Now, I am not certain if I shall ever see you again. 

I am, sir and dear friend, your most humble and most obedient servant, 

DE Joncaire. 



32 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Majesty's service." Later this year Joncaire went to Mon- 
treal with Father d'Heu and a French blacksmith who had 
been for some years in the Seneca villages, and a band of 
some forty Senecas as escort. 

In July, 1710, the French took alarm lest the Iroquois 
should join the English in a threatened expedition against 
Canada. Longueuil and Joncaire, with ten other French- 
men and some Indians, hastened to Onondaga, where the 
French, through Joncaire, as interpreter, made an exceed- 
ingly vigorous harangue, threatening the Indians with dire 
vengeance if they shared in the hostile movement. "If you 
do," said Joncaire (as reported in the English documents), 
"we will not only come ourselves, but sett the farr Nations 
upon you to destroy you your wifes and Children Root & 
Branch. ... Be quiett and sett still." There was a di- 
vided sentiment in this council, but finally the French influ- 
ence appeared to prevail, though a delegation of Indians soon 
appeared in Albany to inform Governor Robert Hunter of 
all that Joncaire had said, and to receive English assurances 
of friendship. On the other hand, a little later, Vaudreuil 
reported the matter to the Minister.^'^ He begged of Mon- 
signeur Ponchartrain that he specially remember the ser- 
vices of Joncaire and Longueuil, "who expose themselves 
to being burnt alive, for the preservation of the country in 
keeping peace with the Iroquois, who without them would 
inevitably make war." Joncaire, he added, has the same 
influence among the Senecas that Longueuil has with the 
Onondagas. Notwithstanding that Joncaire, the preceding 
summer, "was obliged to stay among them, and to send back 
his soldiers, in fear lest they would be put in the kettle, 
exposing himself alone to the caprice of these people in 
order to endeavor to keep the peace," yet he still continued 
to receive their favor, "as if himself a Seneca." At this 
time, the French flattered themselves that they could count 
on the friendship of all of the Five Nations except the Mo- 
hawks, who were most under English influence. 

We find Joncaire, in September, carrying messages from 
M. de Ramezay, commandant at Frontenac, to Vaudreuil at 

10. Vaudreuil to Ponchartrain, Nov. 30, 1710. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 23 

Montreal. It was from Joncaire that the Governor received 
the first intelHgence of the preparations which the English 
were making at Boston and elsewhere, to attack Canada. 

When Ramezay, in 1710. marched against the English, 
Joncaire commanded the Iroquois from Sault St. Louis and 
the Mountain, who made up the rear of the army; and he 
was probably with Vaudreuil, in September of that year in 
the advance to Chambly in quest of the English. More 
urgent matters in the East for a time withdrew the attention 
of Government from the Niagara and its problems. Still, 
no emergency could arise which could make Vaudreuil for- 
getful of the Iroquois. 



III. Joncaire wins English Enmity. 

For the next few years Joncaire continued to go back 
and forth between Montreal, where he acted as interpreter, 
and the Seneca villages, where he was supposed to be at work 
to offset the influences of the English, chiefly as made mani- 
fest through Peter Schuyler. We find record that he was 
among the Senecas in 1710 and again in 1711, 

At a great war-banquet in Montreal, in August, 17 11, at 
which 700 or 800 warriors assembled, "Joncaire and la 
Chauvignerie first raised the hatchet and sang the war-song 
in Ononthio's name." This was on receipt of the news that 
the English were preparing to attack Quebec. Many of the 
Indians answered the cry of the warlike Joncaire with 
applause, only the Indians from the upper country hesitat- 
ing, because they had, almost all, been trading with the 
English ; but in the end, twenty Detroit Hurons taking up 
the hatchet, all who were present declared for the French. 
The incident shows of what great value Joncaire was to the 
cause of the French at this critical time, in holding for them 
the good will of the Iroquois and tribes to the westward. 

The next year, 1712, he was for a time in command at 
Fort Frontenac, in place of the Sieur de la Fresniere, who 
was incapacitated by fever. At this time the Senecas were 
much disturbed over matters to the westward. They feared, 



24 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

in the event of an outbreak against Detroit or by the tribes 
at the Sault, that they would be beset on the Niagara side. 
They sent a large delegation to Montreal, but declared to 
Vaudreuil "that they should not speak unless Sieur de 
Joncaire were present." That officer arrived from Fort 
Frontenac in September. We have not the details of the 
conference that followed ; but the Senecas made their usual 
pledges of confidence in the French. At the same time, 
other tribes assembled at Onondaga were showing decided 
preference for the English, and sending word to the Indians 
at the Sault, requesting them "to remain passive on their 
mats, and not to take any sides," whatever might happen. 

For the next few years I find little trace of Joncaire ; but 
there is no reason to suppose that he did not continue in the 
same service as for the preceding years. 

By his influence among the Iroquois, Joncaire was 
enabled to render a peculiar service in the summer of 171 5. 
The post of Michilimackinac was distressed through lack 
of provisions. An appeal was made to Dubisson, com- 
manding at Detroit ; but he sent word that the corn supply 
had run so short that he had been obliged to send the Sieur 
Dupuy to the Miamis to try to buy of them, but it was 
doubtful if they could supply enough. In this extremity 
Ramezay appealed to Joncaire, who went among his Iro- 
quois friends in the villages of Central New York and 
bought 300 minots of corn — about 900 bushels. This he 
made the Indians carry to the shore of Lake Ontario, some 
twenty leagues from the place of purchase. There it was 
loaded into the canoes for Capt. Deschaillons and dispatched 
to the distressed post ; but all of this occasioned such de- 
lays that a hundred Frenchmen and Canadians were allowed 
to leave Mackinac and go down to Montreal to winter. 

In the autumn of 1716, on his return to Montreal from 
the Iroquois cantons, Lieut, de Longueuil had called the 
attention of MM. de Ramezay and Begon to the need of a 
"little establishment" "on the north [east] side of Niagara, 
on Lake Ontario, 100 leagues from the fort of Frontenac, 
a canoe journey of seven or eight days." Such a post, he 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 25 

claimed, would attract the Missisagas and Amicoues to trade 
with the Iroquois, when the latter went to hunt in the vicin- 
ity of Lake Erie. He also proposed that a barque should 
be built to serve as a transport between Frontenac and 
Niagara, claiming that it would be a sure means of concili- 
ating the Iroquois and of gaining a great part of the fur 
trade which now went to the English. With such a post at 
Niagara, it would be possible to keep the courcurs de hois 
from trading in Lake Ontario, either by seizing their goods 
or arresting the traders, who were working mischief for the 
traffic at Fort Frontenac. De Ramezay, in communicating 
these views to Vaudreuil, commented that if such a post 
were approved, the trade there should be kept to the King's 
account. ^^ The Marquis de Vaudreuil would not agree to 
establish this post at Niagara until the Iroquois should ask 
for it. The council approved, granting permission to pro- 
ceed as suggested, if the Senecas wished it. This proposed 
establishment was never built, but we have in Longueuil's 
suggestions another form of the project which some four 
years later was to take shape in the Magazin Royal at Lew- 
iston, and nearly ten years later in the permanent foundation 
of Fort Niagara. Due recognition must be taken of 
Longueuil's foresight at this time. Apparently to him, and 
not to Joncaire, is due the suggestion which later ripened 
into the Niagara establishment. Though employed for 
many years in similar service, the one among the Onondagas, 
the other with the Senecas, and though equally commended, 
in despatches to the Minister, for their zeal and sagacity, a 
certain distinction attaches to Longueuil and his part in our 
history, which is not shared by Joncaire; a distinction due 
no doubt to family and social standing, rather than to native 
ability or devotion to the service. 

October 24, 1717, at a conference, apparently held at 
Onondaga, the Senecas made the surprising inquiry, if 
Joncaire were not among them "only as a Spy." He had 
spent the winter of 1716-17 in the Senecas' country. In 



II. MM. de Ramezay and Begon, at Quebec, to the Council of Marine, 
Paris, Nov. 7, 1716. 



26 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

spite of his affiliation and long-standing friendship with 
the Senecas, "a rumor prevailed that he had been sent 
thither to amuse them whilst preparations were being made 
to march against them in the Spring." ^^ This suspicion of 
Joncaire was undoubtedly due to the influence of the Eng- 
lish, which by this time had become predominant among the 
eastern Indians of the Federation. Even the Senecas were 
wavering and doubtful. Joncaire, when charged with being 
a spy, "did all in his power to disabuse them; but though 
highly esteemed among and even adopted by them, he could 
not succeed in removing their suspicion, for at the moment 
of his departure for Montreal, they sent a chief of high 
character with him to know from him whether it were true 
that he designed to attack them." 

So reads the somewhat obscure document. The object of 
the embassy to Montreal was obviously to learn, not from 
Joncaire but from Vaudreuil, if any steps were to be taken 
hostile to the Senecas. Later, a delegation of chiefs and 
forty others arrived and were given audience by Vaudreuil. 
With elaborate ceremony they bewailed the death of the old 
King,^^ gave to Vaudreuil a belt which they begged he 
would send to the young King, whom they asked to take 
them under his protection ; and did not omit the usual 
request at these conferences, that Joncaire, the de Lon- 
gueuils, father and son, and De la Chauvignerie, "Should 
be allowed to go into their villages whenever they would 
wish to do so, or should be invited by their nations. They 
added, that they were fully aware that there were some 
people (meaning the English) whom this would not please, 
but no notice must be taken of such ; that they were the 
masters of their own country, and wished their children to 
be likewise its masters, and to go thither freely whenever 
M. de Vaudreuil should permit them." This declaration of 
mastery in their own country illustrates anew the unstable 



12. Proceedings in the Council of the Marine, June 25, 1718, signed L. 
A. de Bourbon and Le Marechal D'Estrees. The document is marked: "To 
be taken to my Lord the Duke of Orleans." See N. Y. Col. Docs., IX, 876-878. 

13. Louis XIV. had died Sept. i, 171 5. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 27 

and bewildered state of mind in which the Five Nations then 
were. Some years since, they had formally deeded their 
country to William III. ; and on more than one occasion 
they had acknowledged the authority of the French. 

In June, Alphonse de Tonty left Montreal for Detroit, 
at which post he had been granted the privilege of trade, 
on condition that he would confine his operations to the 
jurisdiction of Detroit, nor send goods for sale to distant 
tribes. In crossing Lake Ontario, on his way to Niagara, 
he met nine canoes, all going to Albany to trade. Three 
were from Mackinac, three from Detroit and three from 
Saginaw. Tonty endeavored to head ofif this prospective 
trade for the English, and succeeded so well, heightening 
his arguments by substantial presents, that they all agreed 
not to go to Albany, but to go with him to Detroit. 

Two days later, when this imposing flotilla was within 
six miles of Niagara, they fell in with seventeen canoes, 
full of Indians and peltries. In reply to his inquiries, these 
also admitted that they were going to Albany to trade, 
though they added that they were coming to Detroit after- 
wards. Tonty was equal to the emergency. Inspired by self- 
interest as well as loyalty to his government, "he induced 
them also to abandon their design, by the promise that the 
price of merchandise at Detroit should be diminished, and 
he would also give them some brandy."^* There followed a 
judicious distribution of this potent commodity. 

One is tempted to conjure up the scene. Here were 
twenty-six laden canoes, not counting Tonty's own boats. 
They had come long journeys from remote and widely sepa- 
rated points, and their one objective point was the English- 
men's trading-place on th© Hudson. But no sooner do they 
come under the blandishments of the Frenchman, and scent 
the aroma of his brandy-kegs, then these long-cherished 
plans so arduously followed, are thrown to the winds. They 
beach their canoes at or near the point of Niagara. A cask 
of liquor is broached, and Tonty permits the thirsty savages 



14. Report of L. A. de Bourbon, secretary, Council of Marine, Oct. ii 
1717. 



28 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

"to buy two or three quarts of brandy each, to take to their 
villages. But they first agreed that it should be carefully 
distributed by a trusty person." 

In spite of these reassuring precautions, the transaction 
seems somewhat to have burdened his mind, for he thought 
it well to explain that "he hoped the council would not dis- 
approve of what he had done, nor of the continuance of the 
same course, as he had no other intention than merely to 
hinder the savages from going to the English." 

He succeeded fairly well in that purpose. After the dis- 
tribution of brandy, they all reembarked, seven of the 
canoes promising to go to Montreal. Tonty sent back with 
them his trusty interpreter, L'Oranger, to keep them from 
changing their minds as they paddled down the lake. "He 
was only able to conduct six of them to Montreal; the 
seventh escaped and went to Orange." 

Meanwhile ten canoes joined the commandant's own 
retinue ; all paddled swiftly up the Niagara to the old land- 
ing, made the toilsome portage around the falls and pushed 
on together for Detroit, where they arrived July 3d. It was 
a typical move in the game that was being played, and 
France had gained the point. 

This expedition was notable for its use of the Niagara 
route. Only a few years before we find Vaudreuil explain- 
ing to the Minister that he dispatched the Sieur de Lignery 
to Mackinac, and Louvigny to Detroit, by the Ottawa-river 
route, because the Senecas had warned him that a band of 
Foxes lay in wait for plunder at the Niagara portage, or on 
Lake Erie." If this were not duplicity on the part of the 
Senecas, it shows that war parties from the West foraged 
as far east as the Niagara; notwithstanding the supposed 
jealousy with which the. Senecas guarded it. 



15. Vaudreuil to the Minister, Oct. 15, 1712. In a subsequent letter, 
Nov. 6, 1 712, Vaudreuil speaks of the band of Otagamis (i. e. Outagamis, other- 
wise Foxes or Sacs), led by one Vonnere, who lay in wait at the Niagara port- 
age, so that an expedition for Detroit led by M. de Vincennes was sent by 
the Ottawa River route, "not only to avoid these savages, but to prevent the 
convoy from being pillaged by the Iroquois," etc. The name "Vonnere" is 
found elsewhere in the more probable form "Le Tonnerre," t. e., "Thunderbolt." 



THE STORY OF JO NC AIRE. 39 

Again we lose sight of Joncaire for a time ; but the events 
of 1720, a date of great importance in the history of the 
Niagara, indicate that he was long busy with plans for giv- 
ing the French a foothold on the river, and that even his 
Seneca friends had increasing cause to regard him with 
suspicion. 

The attention of the Government was turning more seri- 
ously than ever before, to the Niagara passage as a means 
of reaching the upper posts. A "Memoir on the Indians of 
Canada, as far as the River Mississippi, with remarks on 
their manners and trade," dated 1718, affords an interesting 
glimpse of our river at that period : 

"The Niagara portage is two leagues and a half to three 
leagues long, but the road, over which carts roll two or three 
times a year, is very fine, with very beautiful and open 
woods through which a person is visible for a distance of 
600 paces. The trees are all oaks, and very large. The 
soil along the entire [length] of that road is not very good. 
From the landing, which is three leagues up the river, four 
hills are to be ascended. Above the first hill there is a 
Seneca village of about ten cabins, where Indian corn, beans, 
peas, watermelons and pumpkins are raised, all which are 
very fine. These Senecas are employed by the French, from 
whom they earn money by carrying the goods of those who 
are going to the upper country ; some for mitasses,^® others 
for shirts, some for powder and ball, whilst some others 
pilfer; and on the return of the French, they carry their 
packs of furs for some peltry. This portage is made for 
the purpose of avoiding the Cataract of Niagara, the grand- 
est sheet of water in the world, having a perpendicular fall 
of two or three hundred feet. This fall is the outlet of 
Lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan, Superior, and consequently 
of the numberless rivers discharging into these lakes, with 
the names of which I am not acquainted. The Niagara 
portage having been passed, we ascend a river six leagues 



16. According to O'Callaghan, this is another instance of the adoption of 
Indian words by Europeans. Mitas is not a French but an Algonquin word 
for stockings or leggings, in the "Vocabulary" of La Hontan, II, 223. 



30 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

in length and more than a quarter of a league in width, in 
order to enter Lake Erie, which is not very wide at its 
mouth. The route by the Southern, is much finer than that 
along the Northern shore. The reason that few persons 
take it is, that it is thirty leagues longer than that along the 
north. There is no need of fasting on either side of this 
lake, deer are to be found there in such great abundance ; 
buflfaloes are found on the South, but not on the North 

shore." 

This valuable Memoir, long and full of explicit informa- 
tion regarding the lake region, and the country and peoples 
to the west as far as the Mississippi, is of unknown author- 
ship. It was probably written by some French officer as- 
signed to a western post. As regards the Niagara, it ante- 
dates by three years the visit of the Jesuit Charlevoix, and it 
gives us our first information of Seneca settlement on the 
banks of the river. Although throughout these earlier years 
and for some time yet to come the Ottawa route was used 
more than the Niagara, yet there can be no doubt that, prior 
to 1720, many an expedition to the West had passed this 
way. Many a canoe, coming now singly, now in pairs, now 
in numbers, had no doubt carried the coureur de bois, and 
the trader with his merchandise, from Lake Ontario up the 
beautiful stretch of green water till stopped by the rapids in 
the gorge ; had made the steep climb up those "mountains" 
and followed the well-worn path of the long portage until, 
in navigable water above the great cataract, a new embar- 
kation could be made with safety. Many a voyageur, too, 
returning from the West, as messenger from one of the 
upper posts or with canoes laden with packets of skins, had 
no doubt braved the dangers and difficulties of the Iroquois 
route, that he might sooner reach Frontenac and the settle- 
ments down the St. Lawrence. Some of these expeditions 
we have traced ; but when one studies the history of Detroit 
and Mackinac and the various establishments on Lake 
Michigan, and notes the frequent communication they kept 
up with IMontreal, he can but conclude that, notwithstand- 
ing the known use of the Ottawa route, there must have been 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 31 

many a hardy traveler on the Niagara of whose presence 
there is no more record in history than there is trace of his 
keel in the waters he traversed. Joncaire himself, known 
and welcomed throughout the country of the Senecas, was 
probably on the river many a time since his meeting with 
d'Aigremont, on the site of Fort Denonville; but not until 
1720 do we find official record to that effect. 



IV. The House by the Niagara Rapids. 

Early in May, 1720, Joncaire appeared at Fort Fron- 
tenac. The previous year, at the beginning of harvest, he 
had laden his canoe with trinkets, "small merchandizes," 
powder, lead, not forgetting the useful belts of wampum and 
the equally useful brandy, and had crossed over to the Long 
House of the Iroquois. Here, in the heart of our New York 
State, he had wintered, part of the time at the great Seneca 
village and part of the time at the little village.^' 

It was by the instructions of Vaudreuil and Begon that 
he made this sojourn, the design being that he should win 
for the French such favor that they might carry out undis- 
turbed the orders which the Court had promulgated in 
1 718, namely, the building of magazines and stockaded 
houses at Niagara and other Lake Ontario points. 

The winter had been well spent. He brought back with 
him to Frontenac not merely several bundles of peltries, 
but good tidings which a council was quickly summoned to 
hear. The Senecas were most favorably disposed towards 
their father Onontio, and to the uncle Sononchiez, by which 
name they had come affectionately to designate Joncaire. 



17. In 1720 "the great Seneca village" was apparently at the White 
Springs, one and one half miles southwest of Geneva. It later removed to a 
location some two miles northwest of Geneva, where it was long famous as 
the Ga-nnn-da-sa-ga of the Senecas, otherwise Kanadesaga. "The Seneca castle 
called Onahe," mentioned further on in our narrative, was at this period 
about three miles southeast from the present village of Canandaigua. These 
locations are in accordance with conclusions reached by the late George S. 
Conover of Geneva, than whom probably no one has made a more thorough 
study of the subject. 



32 THE STORY OF JO NC AIRE. 

Their father and their uncle, their message ran, were mas- 
ters of their land. "The Indians consented not only to the 
building of the House of Niagara but also engaged them- 
selves to maintain it. And if the English should under- 
take to demolish it they must first take up the hatchet 
against the Cabanes of the two villages of the Sennekas."^® 
Such, at any rate, was the message as delivered to the 
delighted council. 

No time was lost. In "lo or 12 days" a canoe was 
packed with goods : "Some pieces of Blew Cloth three 
dozen or thereabouts of white Blankets for the use of the 
Indians half a Barrell of Brandy &c" ; and with eight sol- 
diers and young De la Corne — son of Capt. De la Corne, 
Mayor of Montreal — the expedition set out gaily for our 
river. The season was propitious, the voyage short and suc- 
cessful. They entered the mouth of the Niagara and 
pressed on up the river to the head of navigation. Here, at 
the beginning of the portage on the east side of the gorge, 
where Lewiston now stands, "the Sieur de Joncaire & le 
Corne caused to be built in haste a kind of Cabbin of Bark 
where they displayed the Kings Colors & honored it with 
the name of the Magazin Royal." 

Joncaire did not linger long, but went very soon to confirm 
his peace with the Senecas, leaving De la Corne in com- 
mand. From the Senecas' village he hastened back to Fron- 
tenac. There he took into his canoe as compagnon du voy- 
age John Durant, the chaplain of the fort, from whose 
memorial are drawn in part the data for this portion of our 
narrative. They voyaged together to Quebec, arriving Sep- 
tember 3d, and Joncaire was granted early audience with 
Vaudreuil and the Intendant, to whom he told what he had 
done. Vaudreuil was pleased, and the next day bestowed 
upon him the title of Commandant at Niagara, and bade 
him hasten back to that precarious post. There was joined 
to this new dignity an order for the inspection of the maga- 
zine "established in the Lake of Ontario. This Magazine 
is situate on the west of the Lake for the Trade with the 



18. Durant's Memorial, N. Y. Col. Docs., V, 



THE STORY OF } ON C AIRE. 83 

Missasague otherwise called the Round Heads distant 
about thirty leagues from that of Niagara. The House at 
the bottom of the Lake^^ was built by the Sieur de Anville 
a little after that of Niagara."-" The Sieur Douville had 
built another house, for trade with the Ottawas, at the foot 
of the Bay of Quinte. "They leave to winter in all their 
new forts," says Chaplain Durant, "but one Store Keeper 
and two Soldiers." Here indeed, was service for the King, 
a living immurement in the wilderness ; yet the careers of 
men like Joncaire show how alluring this forest life, in spite 
of all its hardships and hazard, proved to many a soldier of 
New France. 



19. I. E., foot, west end. The allusion is probably to the trading-house 
at Toronto, with which Douville was more or less connected for some years. 
I find no statement in the documents showing that there was a trading-post at 
present Burlington Bay. 

20. The builder of the trading-post at the head of Lake Ontario, the 
builder of the trading-post on the Bay of Quinte, and the officer who spent the 
winter of 1720-21 on the Niagara, are apparently the same man, variously 
designated in the printed documents as "the Sieur de Anville," "the Sieur 
D'Agneaux," and "the Sieur D'Ouville." The name is also to be found written 
"d'Auville" and "d'Agneaux." Some of these variants are doubtless due to 
illigible manuscript, or inaccurate copying. He appears to have been the same 
officer who, at a conference v.-ith the Iroquois at Quebec, Nov. 2, 1748, signed 
his name "Dagneaux Douville." He was a lieutenant in the detachment of 
marine troops serving in Canada. In 1750 he is spoken of as "Sieur Dou- 
ville," commandant of Sault St. Louis; and in 1756, when he shared in another 
conference with Indians at Montreal, as "Lieut. Douville." 

I find it impossible, from the allusions in the records, to be definite regard- 
ing French officers in the Canadian service, who are designated as "Douville." 
Philippe Dagneau Douville, Sieur de la Saussaye, born 1700, was commandant 
at Toronto in 1759. His brother, spoken of also as Sieur de la Saussaye, was 
at Niagara, en route for Detroit, in 1739. The latter appears to have been 
the Alexandre Dagneau Douville who served among the Miamis, 1747-48; who 
was sent out from Fort Duquesne in 1756, on a foraging expedition, and was 
killed the next year in an attack on a fort in Virginia. A "Douville" was 
second ensign under Capt. Duplissy in 1729; was with Villiers at Green Bay 
in 1730, in which year he married Marie Coulon de Villiers. "Douville" was 
also interpreter at Fort Frontenac in 1743. If, as seems probable, it was 
Philippe who was at the conference in Quebec in 1748 — Alexandre being among 
the Miamis in that year — then it was probably Philippe whose connection with 
the trade on Lake Ontario is noted in the text. The confusion is increased 
by the record that in 1728 "Rouville la Saussaye" was the lessee of the trading- 
post at Toronto; but whether there is any relation between Rouville la Saussaye, 
the trader, and Douville de la Saussaye, the soldier, I leave for future deter- 
mination, or those who may have more exact information in the matter. 



34 THE STORY OF JO NC AIRE. 

Joncaire set out from Montreal, about the middle of 
October, 1720, to winter at Niagara. His two canoes were 
laden deep with goods from the King's storehouse. His 
escort numbered twelve soldiers, but at Frontenac six were 
left behind. There were evidently delays, at Frontenac or 
beyond, for as he skirted the south shore of Ontario his 
journey was stopped by ice thirty-five leagues from the 
Niagara. He put in at the Genesee and wintered there. 

Into what extremity this failure of expected relief plunged 
the occupants of the bark cabin at the mouth of the Niagara 
gorge, we are not told. De la Corne does not appear to have 
wintered there, for Durant records that "the Sieur D'Ouville 
had stayed there alone with a soldier, waiting the Sieur de 
Joncaire." Probably the friendship of the Senecas preserved 
them, but Joncaire's failure to arrive in the fall with goods 
to trade kept the storehouse empty till spring, to the no small 
embarrassment of the French and disappointment of the 
Indians. 

There exist of this episode, as of many others that form 
our history, two official accounts, one French, the other 
English. In the abstract of Messrs. de Vaudreuil and 
Begon's report on Niagara for 1720, it is set forth that 
"the English had proposed to an Iroquois chief, settled at 
Niagara, to send horses thither from Orange, which is 
130 leagues distant from it, for the purpose of transmit- 
ting goods, and to make a permanent settlement there, and 
offered to share with him whatever profits might accrue 
from the speculation. The English would, by such means, 
have been able to secure the greatest part of the peltries 
coming down the lakes from the upper countries ; give 
employment not only to the Indians who go up there and 
return thence, but also to the French." The reader will note 
the delightful impudence of this last proposition. The 
report continues : "They [the French] have a store there 
well supplied with goods for the trade ; and have, by means 
of the Indians, carried on there, up to the present time and 
since several years ago, a considerable trade in furs in barter 



THE STORY OF 10 NC AIRE. 35 

for merchandise and whisky.-^ This cstabHshment would 
have enabled them to purchase the greater part of the pel- 
tries both of the French and Indians belonging to the upper 
country." It is clear that the English were about to attempt 
an establishment on the Niagara, had not the French fore- 
stalled them. 

It is not easy to reconcile the various dates, or lack of 
dates, in the English and French records of this establish- 
ment. It was on Oct. 26, 1719, that Vaudreuil sent Joncaire 
to carry to the Five Nations a favorable word from the 
King, and the presents above mentioned. He was charged 
to tell the Senecas that if the English came to Niagara they 
— the Senecas — should fall on them and seize their goods. It 
was agreed with Begon that De la Corne the younger and 
an engage should spend the winter of i7i9-'20 on the Niag- 
ara, and that they were to open trade the following spring, 
on the Royal account. Their presence, it was argued, would 
keep the English away, and help the trade at Frontenac. 

An Indian reported at Albany, in July, 17 19, that the 
French were building at Niagara. He had been at the 
Seneca Castle called Onahe, within a day's journey of 
Niagara, and there met some Ottawas who had asked the 
French at Niagara, how they came to make a fort there 
without asking leave of the Five Nations ; and the French 
had replied, "they had Built it of their Own Accord, without 
asking any Bodys Leave and Design'd to keep Horses and 
Carts there for Transportation of Goods," etc." 

Either the date of the above is too early by a year, or it 
refers to a structure built some time in 17 19, which was 
succeeded by the larger Magazin Royal, which, according to 
explicit accounts, both French and English, was built in the 
latter part of May, 1720. In the report sent by Vaudreuil 
and Begon to the Minister, under date of Oct. 26, 1720, 
it is stated that "on the representation made by the Sieur 
de Joncaire, lieutenant of the troops, as to the importance 



21. "Eau de vie de grain." 

22. N. Y. Col. MSS. in State Library, Albany, Vol. LXI., fol. 157. 



36 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

of this post and of the quantity of furs which could be traded 
for there, they are making there a permanent estabhshment 
("un etahlissement sedentaire"). We have charged him to 
have built there by the savages a picketed house ("une 
maison de pieux" ) to which [construction] he pledged them 
last spring." The same report recites the visit to the Senecas 
of Messrs. Schuyler and Livingston, their names appearing 
— grotesquely distorted, as is usually the case with English 
or Dutch names in the old French documents — as "le Sr. 
Jean Schnlt, commandant, et le Sr. L. Euiston, moire a 
Orange"! The bark house was obviously surrounded by 
palisades — a strong, high fence of sharpened stakes. If the 
text of the French report may be accepted, the Indians 
themselves bore a willing hand in its construction. 

Durant's memorial makes no mention of a visit at Maga- 
zin Royal in behalf of the English, but there was one. The 
work on the bark house under the Niagara escarpment was 
no sooner begun than word of it was carried eastward 
through the lodges and villages of the Six Nations. In 
April of 1720, Myndert Schuyler and Robert Livingston, 
Jr., had set out from Albany for the Seneca Castle, to hold 
one of the conferences which the Commissioners of Indian 
Affairs so frequently ordered at this period. Here, May 
i6th, they took the Indians to task because the French "are 
now buissey at Onjagerae, which ought not to be Consented 
to or admitted." The English emissaries went on to remind 
their Seneca brethren of the promises that had been made 
"about twenty-two years agoe to secure their Lands and 
hunting Places westward of them ... to the Crown of 
great Brittain to be held for you and Your Posterity." The 
French, they continued, "are now buissy at onjagera which 
in a Manner is the only gate you have to go through towards 
your hunteing places and the only way the farr Indians con- 
veniently came through where Jean Coeurs [Joncaire] with 
some men are now at work on building a block house and 
no Doubt of a Garrison by the next Year whereby you will 
be so Infenced that no Room will be Left for you to hunt 
in with out Liberty wee know that in warr time they could 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 37 

never overcome you, but these proceedings in building so near 
may be their Invented Intrigues to hush you to sleep whilst 
they take possession of the Heart of Your Country this is 
Plainly seen by us therefore desire you to Consider it rightly 
and sent [send] out to spy what they are doing at onjagera 
and prohibite Jean Coeur building there, for where thej 
make Settlements they Endeavour to hold it so that if he 
takes no notice thereof, after given in a Civill way, further 
Complaints may be made to your brother Corlaer, who will 
Endeavour to make you Easy therein." 

This ingenuous appeal having been emphasized, accord- 
ing to custom, by giving a belt of wampum, the sachems 
retired to think it over. Six days later — May 22d — the 
sachems of the Senecas, Cayugas and Oneidas assembled, 
and in behalf of their own peoples and of the Mohawks and 
Onondagas, spoke to the English delegates at length and 
with the customary Indian grandiloquence. Regarding the 
French intrusion at Niagara they said, in part : 

"You have told us that you were Informed the French 
were building a house at Onjagera which As you perceive 
will prove prejudiciall to us & You. Its true they are Either 
yett building or it is finished by this time wee do owne that 
some Years agoe the Five Nations gave Trongsagroende 
lerondoquet & onjagera and all other hunting Places west- 
ward to y^ Crowne to be held for us and our posterity 
Least other might Incroach on us then we also partition the 
hunting Places between us and the french Indians but since 
then they are gone farr within the Limits and the french 
got more by setling Trongsagroende and we must Joyne 
our Opinion with yours that if wee suffer the french to settle 
at onjagera, being the only way to ward hunting, wee will 
be altogether shut up and Debarred, of means for our lively 
hood then in deed our Posterity would have Reason to 
Reflect on us there fore to beginn in time wee will appoint 
some of our men to go thither to onjagera and Desire you 
to send one along so that in the name of the five Nations 
Jean Coeur may be acquainted with the Resolve of this 
Meeting and for biden to proceed any further building, but 
ordered to take down what's Erected." 



38 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Having thus confirmed the English in their assertions, 
and pledged their own friendship, the sachems through 
their spokesman gave the belt of wampum and passed on to 
other matters. At the end of the conference three chiefs 
were appointed to go to Niagara to expostulate with the 
French; and A'lessrs. Schuyler and Livingston deputed to 
go with them their Dutch interpreter, Lawrence Claessen. 

This man, whose name in the old records is variously 
spelled Claessen, Clawsen, Clausen, Claese, Clase or Clace, 
acquires some importance in our record from the fact that he 
is the first representative of English interests known to 
have visited the Niagara in other than a clandestine way. 
With the exception of Roosboom and McGregorie and per- 
haps one or two others of their class, he is the first white 
man, not of France or in the French interest, known to have 
reached the region. Moreover he is a typical example of a 
class of men who at this period were indispensable alike to 
the English and French. He was an Indian interpreter, a 
go-between, the medium of communication between the 
English and the Indians. Though not a soldier, he was for 
his people in other ways the counterpart of Joncaire among 
the French ; and although his experiences appear to have 
been less hazardous and romantic than were that adven- 
turer's, yet his life, for a score of years before we find him 
at Niagara, had been successfully devoted to a calling which 
demanded exceptional knowledge and tact, and which 
brought no lack of arduous experiences. 

As early as 1700 he was serving the English as interpreter 
in their councils and treaties with the Five Nations. He 
was apparently even then no novice at the trade, for the next 
year the Mohawks gave him about three acres on small 
islands in the Mohawk, in proof of their gratitude because 
of his fairness as an interpreter. He was a witness, July 19, 
1701, to the deed by which the Five Nations conveyed their 
beaver-hunting grounds to King William. It is a strange 
document, containing among the attached signatures the 
pictographic devices of sachems of each of the five nations ; 
and quit-claiming to the English Crown all the country of 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 3y 

the Iroquois south of Lakes Ontario and Huron, on both 
sides of Lake Erie and as far west as Lake Michigan, 
"inchiding hkewise," specifies the deed, "the great falls 
oakinagaro" [Niagara]. This vast area, 400 miles wide by 
800 miles long, an empire in itself and now the seat of 
millions of people, the home of commerce and of culture, 
but then the wilderness which the Iroquois claimed as his 
hunting-ground, and because of its resources of fur the 
bone of contention between Europe's greatest powers, was 
absolutely given, with every rivet and clamp of legal verbi- 
age which the language of the law, redundantly profuse then 
as now, could command — "freely and voluntarily surrend- 
ered delivered up and forever quit-claimed . . . unto 
our great Lord and Master the King of England called by 
us Corachkoo and by the Christians William the third and 
to his heires and successors Kings and Queens of England 
for ever." And the sole compensation for this transfer was 
to be liberty on the part of the Five Nations to hunt as they 
pleased in thia domain, and to be protected by the English 
in the exercise of that right. 

From this date on for many years Claessen continued to 
act in a confidential capacity and as interpreter. The colo- 
nial records afford many glimpses of him. In 17 10 he was 
sent to the Senecas' country, "to y^ five Nations to watch y^ 
motions of y^ French & to perswade those Indians to give a 
free passage to y^ farr Indians through their Countrey to 
come here to Albany to trade." 

On this mission, at Onondaga, July 17th, he encountered 
Longueuil and Joncaire. He was among the Indians at 
Onondaga again in the spring of 171 1. Two years later we 
find him, with Heinrich Hanson and Capt. Johannes 
Bleecker, holding an important conference at the same great 
rendezvous. 

Whenever the Indians went to Albany to confer — and 
that was often, at this period — Claessen was summoned to 
interpret. On such occasions, the communications from 
red men to Governor, or vice versa, were made through 
successive interpretations. Thus it was customary, on these 



40 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

occasions, for the sachem to make his speech, paragraphed, 
so to say, by the gift of wampum belts. This speech Claes- 
sen, who, perhaps alone of all the white men present, under- 
stood the Five Nations dialects, repeated, more or less accu- 
rately, in Dutch. Usually it was Robert Livingston, secre- 
tary for the Indian Commissioners, who knew both Dutch 
and English, but not Indian, who translated what Claessen 
had said, for the benefit of Gov. Burnet, who understood 
only English. 

Sometimes there was still further interposition of lingual 
media. Such was the case at a conference at Albany in 
1722 between Gov. Spotswood of Virginia and the Indians. 
On this occasion there was speech-making by the Delawares. 
Here Claessen's knowledge failed him, so another inter- 
preter, James Latort, was called in, to convert Delaware into 
Mohawk or Dutch. 

More tedious yet was the work of the interpreters at a 
conference held at Albany in 1723 between the commis- 
sioners of Indian afifairs and representatives of western 
tribes — the "farr Indians" of the quaint old records. Claes- 
sen could not understand them, but a Seneca who had been a 
prisoner among them could, and interpreted to Claessen, 
who in turn interpreted to the commissioners ; thus after 
three transformations the message reached a record in 
English. The wonder is not that there were so many mis- 
understandings, but — if one may judge from the dispatch 
of business — that there were so few. 

There were other interpreters employed by the English 
at this period; among them Capt. Johannes Bleecker and 
Jan Baptist van Eps, a man who was sent on important mis- 
sions among the Senecas, and may not unlikely have found 
his way to the Niagara ; his name, in some of the reports 
of Indian speeches, appears rather startlingly as John the 
Baptist. There was even a Dutch woman, Hilletje van 
Olinda, employed as "interpretress" at Albany in 1702. But 
none other in his time seems to have borne so important a 
part as Lawrence Claessen. In 1726 he was one of the wit- 
nesses to a trust deed by which the Onondagas, Cayugas and 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 41 

Senecas confirmed to Governor Burnet, as representative of 
King George, the quit-claim deed which the Five Nations 
had executed in 1701. The terms of the latter instrument 
are not so sweeping as in the former case. The country 
deeded is from the Salmon River, in Oswego County, New 
York, to Cleveland, Ohio, a strip sixty miles wide back into 
the country from the water front, and carefully specifying 
that it includes "all along the said lake [Erie] and all along 
the narrow passage from the said lake to the Falls of 
Oniagara Called Cahaquaraghe and all along the River of 
Oniagara and all along the Lake Cadarackquis," etc.-^ Small 
wonder, in view of these sessions in good faith, that the 
English vigorously contested all French establishment on 
the Niagara. 

Two years after the signing of this deed, Claessen was 
invited to Oswego, to mark out a land grant for the King. 
"We know none so proper," said the sachems to Gover- 
nor Montgomery, "as Lawrense Clausen the Interpreter, 
who is one of us And understands our Language." "I con- 
sent," replied His Excellency, "that Lawrence Clausen the 
Interpreter go up with you as you desire to mark out the 
Land you are to give his Majesty at Oswego, And as he 
[the King] is your kind father I expect you will give him a 
Large tract." This was on Oct. i, 1728. As late as Nov. 
23, 1730, we find him just returning to Albany from Onon- 
daga and reporting to the Indian Commissioners the latest 
news regarding Joncaire, which will be noted presently as 
we trace the career of that worthy. 

In all the thirty years during which we have sight of 
Lawrence Claessen, no service on which he was employed is 
recorded with greater detail than that which brought him 
to the Frenchmen's "Magazin Royal" on the banks of the 
Niagara in the spring of 1720. In his journal of that visit 
he has left a pretty vivid account of the way in which his 
mission sped. 

After a week of travel from the Seneca town Claessen and 
the three Seneca chiefs, on the last day of May, arrived at 

23. From the original roll in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany. 



42 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

the "Magazin Royal." They found it a good-sized house, 
"Forty Foot long and thirty wide," but it was not ample 
enough to afford them a hospitable reception. It was occu- 
pied, according to the English account, by a French mer- 
chant and two other Frenchmen — one of them Douville. 
Joncaire does not appear to have been there when Claessen 
arrived. The French account says that the Englishman 
(Claessen) told La Corne, "whom M. Begon appointed 
to trade at that place, to withdraw, and that they were going 
to pull down that house. La Corne answered them that he 
should not permit them to do so without an order from 
Sieur de Joncaire, who on being advised thereof by an 
Indian, went to the Senecas to prevent them consenting to 
that demolition." 

The argument between Claessen and La Corne was a 
heated one. Claessen told the latter that he had been sent, in 
company with the sachems, "to tell you that the Five 
Nations have heard that you are building a house at Octja- 
gara [Niagara], and the said sachims having considered 
how prejudicial that a French Settlement on their Land must 
consequently prove to them and their Posterity (if not 
timely prevented) wherefore they have sent me and them 
to acquaint you with their resolution that it is much against 
their inclination that any buildings should be made here and 
that they desire you to desist further building and to leave 
and demolish what you have made." 

The French merchant was at no loss for defense. "We 
had leave," he replied, "from the young fighting men of the 
Senecas to build a house at Niagara. My master is the 
Governor of Canada. He has posted me here to trade. This 
house will not be torn down until he orders it." 

The three sachems with Claessen scouted the idea that 
the young fighting men of their nation had given or could 
give permission for the French to establish themselves on 
the bank of the Niagara. "We have never heard," they 
said, "that any of our young men had given such leave for 
making any building at Octjagara." 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 48 

Claessen did not tarry long. Returning by way of Iron- 
dequoit, he there encountered new evidence of French enter- 
prise in a blacksmith whom the Governor of Canada had 
sent among the Senecas to work for them "gratis, he having 
compassion on them as a father," and in three French canoes 
loaded with goods, bound up for Niagara. By June 7th he 
was back at Seneca Castle, where he called together the chiefs 
and young warriors for a council. When they met, Joncaire 
appeared with them. Claessen told the assembly what had 
been said at Niagara ; whereupon the Indians, old sachems 
and young warriors alike, joined in a disclaimer. The 
French, they said, had built the house at Niagara without 
so much as asking their leave, and they desired "that their 
brother Corlaer may do his endeavour to have y^ said House 
demolisht that they may preserve their Lands and Hunting." 
They suggested that the English at Albany write to the 
Governor of Canada and insist that the house be destroyed. 

Here Joncaire broke in. He had listened to the Senecas' 
disclaimer, but now he assumed a taunting tone. Inter- 
rupting Claessen he exclaimed : "You seek to have the 
house at Niagara torn down only because you are afraid 
that you — you traders at Albany — will not get any trade 
from this Seneca nation and from the Indians of the far 
West. When we keep our house and people at Niagara we 
can stop the Senecas and the Western Indians too from 
trading with you. That is the trouble with you. You are 
not afraid that we keep the land from the Senecas." 

"The French," disputed Claessen, "have made this set- 
tlement at Niagara to encroach on the Five Nations, to 
hinder them in their hunting, and to debar them of the ad- 
vantage they should reap by permitting a free passage of 
the Western Indians through the Seneca castles. What is 
more, you impose on these people in your trade. You sell 
them goods at exorbitant rates. For a blanket of strouds 
you demand eight beavers, for a white blanket six, and other 
goods in proportion; whereas they may have them at Al- 
bany for half those prices." And the assembled Indians 
gravely affirmed that it was so. 



44 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

Lawrence Claessen went back to Albany, leaving Jon- 
caire for the time victorious. He prevailed on the vaccilat- 
ing Senecas not only to spare but to protect the house by 
the Niagara rapids, arguing that they themselves would 
profit from it, and emphasizing the argument, we may be 
sure, by a discreet bestowal of gifts. 

For the Senecas, this occurrence was but another step 
towards an inevitable end. For the French, it was a great 
achievement. The adroit Joncaire had crowned the efforts 
of more than forty years ; for ever since La Salle had built 
his first house on the river the French had longed for its 
permanent possession. The achievement won for Joncaire 
new expressions of regard. In the report of the Governor 
and Intendant for 1720 one may read: "No one is better 
qualified than he [Joncaire] to begin this establishment 
[Niagara,] which will render the trade of Fort Frontenac 
much more considerable and valuable than it has ever been. 
He is a very excellent officer; the interpreter of the Five 
Iroquois Nations, and has served thirty-five years in the 
country. As all the Governors-General have successfully 
employed him, they have led him to hope that the Council 
would be pleased to regard the services he will have it in 
his power to render at this conjuncture." 

Local tradition fixes the site of Magazin Royal on the present Bridge 
Street at Lewiston, a few rods east of the tracks of the International Railway 
Company, and within a stone's throw of the bank of the Niagara. Here, at 
the south side of the road, just at the edge of the steep slope that stretches 
to the upper heights, one may yet trace the outlines of what appears to have 
been a well, and of the foundation of a building; scarcely however of Joncaire's 
cabin, but very plausibly of a house which later occupied the site, regarding 
which the Rev. Joshua Cooke, for many years a resident of Lewiston, writes to 
the present chronicler: "I have a particular interest in the spot, for in 1802, 
eighty-one years after Joncaire built, my grandfather built his pioneer home 
on the spot — the first white man's home on the Niagara, after Joncaire." The 
old ferry road followed the general direction of the present Bridge Street, but 
ran a little to the north of it, in a ravine of which a portion still remains, at 
its junction with the river. Within recent years the building of the electric 
road along the river bank, the reconstruction of the suspension bridge at this 
point, and the cutting and grading incident to this work, have greatly changed 
things hereabouts. The present owner of the site is Mr. J. Boardman Scovell 
of Lewiston, who, in connection with the Niagara Frontier Landmarks Asso- 
ciation, proposes to place on the site a monument which shall commemorate 
Joncaire's famous Magazin Royal. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRB. 45 

V. The British Covet the Niagara Trade. 

The British plans for getting a foothold on Lake Erie 
and the Niagara at this time are revealed in various docu- 
ments. A "Representation of the Lords Commissioners 
for Trade and Plantations to the King upon the State of 
His Majesties Colonies and Plantations on the Continent of 
North America," dated Sept. 8, 1721, sets forth at length 
that it would be of great advantage to build a fort in the 
country of the Seneca Indians, near the Lake Ontario, 
"which, perhaps, might be done with their consent by the 
means of presents, and it should the rather be attempted 
without loss of time, to prevent the french from succeeding 
in the same design, which they are now actually endeavour- 
ing at." We have already alluded to other forms in which 
this design was shown. It reappears in various ways, in 
numerous documents and publications of the time. 

There ensued between the Marquis de Vaudreuil in be- 
half of Canada, and Governor Burnet, an exceedingly 
spirited correspondence; one of those epistolary dialogues, 
or rather duels, which by their exhibitions of human nature 
do so enliven the record of the long strife for supremacy in 
America. Joncaire had left Montreal in September, 1720, 
for the house by the Niagara rapids. He undoubtedly car- 
ried with him a generous stock of articles of trade, powder, 
lead and brandy. He was to stay on the Niagara and among 
the Senecas until the following June. Governor Burnet, 
down in New York, was quickly apprised of it, and made 
known his mind to Vaudreuil. He began with compliments 
worthy of a French courtier. He had come to his post in 
September last, he wrote, with an inclination to salute his 
neighbor to the North by a cordial notification of his ar- 
rival. "I heard such a high eulogium of your family and 
of your own excellent qualities that I flattered myself with a 
most agreeable neighborhood, and was impatient to open a 
correspondence in which all the profit would be on my side. 
But I had not passed two weeks in the province when our 
own Indians of the Five Nations came to advise me, that the 



46 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

French were building a post in their country at Niagara; 
that Sieur de Joncaire was strongly urging them to abandon 
the English interest altogether and to join him, promising 
them that the Governor of Canada would furnish better land 
near Chambly, to those who would remove thither; and 
would uphold the rest against the new Governor of New 
York, who was coming to exterminate them ; . . , that 
an effort was making to persuade them to close the passage 
through their country, to the English, in case the latter 
should disturb the post at Niagara, and that M. de Longueuil 
had gone thither for that purpose, and to complete the se- 
duction of the Indians from their ancient dependence on 
Great Britain." He explains why he has not waited for 
instructions from the Court before writing in the matter, 
and continues : "You will perceive, by the Treaty of Utrecht, 
that all the Indians are to be at liberty to go to trade with 
one party and the other; and if advantage be taken of the 
post at Niagara to shut up the road to Albany to the Far 
Indians, it is a violation of the Treaty which ought justly 
to alarm us, especially as that post is on territory belonging 
to our Indians, where we were better entitled to build than 
the French, should we deem it worth the trouble." He 
charges Vaudreuil with unseemly haste in seizing "disputed 
posts" ; renews his expressions of regret, and adroitly adds 
that he believes that "most of these disorders are due to this 
Joncaire, who has long since deserved hanging for the infa- 
mous murder of Hontour [Montour] which he committed. 
I leave you to judge whether a man of such a character de- 
serves to be employed in affairs so delicate." 

Canada's Governor replied, seriatim, to all the counts 
which Burnet undertook to score against him. Burnet, he 
said, was "the first English Governor-General who has 
questioned the right of the French, from time immemorial, 
to the post of Niagara, to which the English have, up to the 
present time, laid no claim." He declared that the French 
right there had continued since La Salle's first occupancy; 
that Fort Denonville was given up in 1688 because of sick- 
ness, "without this post, however, having been abandoned 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 47 

by the French" ; a claim which, to say the least, shows that 
Vaudreuil possessed qualifications that would have made 
him an adept in certain occupations of the law. He denied 
that there had been any dispute between the French and 
Indians as to the erection of Joncaire's trading-house, denied 
that there was any infraction of the treaty of peace, or that 
French occupancy of the Niagara interfered in the least 
with the Western Indians who could still carry their trade 
to the English if they saw fit. As to Joncaire, Governor 
Burnet was assured that he had been misinformed as to that 
useful man's character and qualities, "as he possesses none 
but what are very good and very meritorious, and has always 
since he has been in this country most faithfully served the 
King. It was by my orders that he killed the Frenchman 
named Montour, who would have been hanged had it been 
possible to take him alive and to bring him to this colony." 
The letter concludes with formal expressions of esteem, and 
the rather superfluous hope that the explanations would be 
satisfactory. 

He himself had the satisfaction, the next year, of having 
his conduct approved by the King. "His Majesty has ap- 
proved of the measures M. de Vaudreuil adopted to prevent 
the execution of the plan formed by the English of Orange 
to destroy the establishment at Niagara; and of the steps 
he took to dissuade the Iroquois from favoring them in that 
enterprise, and thereby to hinder the English undertaking 
anything against that post or against those of the Upper 
Country. His Majesty recommends him to endeavor to 
live on good terms with the English, observing, nevertheless, 
to maintain always His Majesty's interests." 



VI. Visitors at Magazin Royal — The Huguenot Spy 
OF THE Niagara. 

A spectator, on May 19, 1721, looking lakeward from 
the high bank where now old Fort Niagara keeps impotent 
guard, would have seen, swiftly skirting the shore from the 
eastward, a flotilla of King's boats and bark canoes, some 



48 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

crowded with soldiers, others laden deep with merchandise. 
Not in many a year had so imposing a company come to the 
Niagara. The lower reaches of the river are quickly accom- 
plished, and as the voyagers make landing below Magazin 
Royal, they receive hearty welcome from Chabert Joncaire, 
surrounded by delighted and greedy men, women and chil- 
dren from the Seneca and Mississauga lodges on the river 
bank. The first greeting, a deferential one, is for Charles 
le Moyne, Baron de Longueuil, lieutenant governor of Mon- 
treal. With him are the Marquis de Cavagnal, son of the 
Governor-General of Canada, Captain de Senneville, M. de 
Laubinois, commissary of ordnance, Ensign de la Chauvig- 
nerie the interpreter, De Noyan, commandant at Frontenac, 
and John Durant, state chaplain at that post. Each of the 
three King's boats brought six soldiers, and there were 
valets and cooks, so that Longueuil's party numbered 
twenty-eight or more. Besides these, two bark canoes had 
each borne eight men and a load of merchandise, one 
destined for the magazine at Niagara, the other for trade 
among the Miamis at the upper end of Lake Erie. Still 
another canoe brought, with De Noyan and the chaplain, 
four soldiers and an Indian. 

For Longueuil, it was an official visit. He and La 
Chauvignerie were under orders from the Court to join 
Joncaire at Niagara and go with him among the Senecas to 
distribute presents and thank them for the good will they 
had shown the French in permitting the construction of 
Magazin Royal. For the Marquis de la Cavagnal and 
Capt. de Senneville, it was largely a pleasure trip : they "had 
undertaken that voyage only out of curiosity of seeing the 
fall of the water at Niagara," says Chaplain Durant, thus 
indicating probably the first sight-seeing tourists, as distin- 
guished from all other travelers on the Niagara. 

It was not in the nature of things, however, that young 
men of the spirit and enterprise of Cavagnal and Longueuil 
should rest content with sentimental gazing. They had, in 
fact, the serious purpose, in compliance with an order laid 
upon them by the Governor himself, "to survey Niagara and 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 49 

take the exact height of the cataract." This apparently had 
never been done before. It is plain, from their wild guesses 
and exaggerations, that neither Hennepin nor La Hontan 
attempted it, nor do they report an attempt by any one con- 
nected with the expeditions of La Salle or Denonville. 

It is matter of regret that no official report of this first 
measurement of the falls is known. We learn of it from a 
verbal interview which took place in Albany five months 
later. On October loth of this year the Hon. Paul Dudley 
of that town gleaned some facts from one Borassaw — so 
the English report spells his name. This man (a French 
Canadian, probably a boatman or possibly a trader), said 
he had been at Niagara seven times, and was there the last 
May, when the height of the falls was taken by Longue 
Isle, St. Ville and Laubineau — in which perverse spelling of 
the Hon. Paul Dudley we may recognize Longueuil, Capt. 
de Senneville and Laubinois. They used, the Frenchman 
said, a large cod-line and a stone of half a hundred weight, 
and they found the perpendicular height "no more than 
twenty-six Fathom ; his Words were vingt ct six Bras." 
This height, 156 feet, indicates that the measurement was 
made at the eastern edge of the American Fall, which spot, 
known in our day as Prospect Point, was undoubtedly the 
natural and most frequented place of observation, from days 
immemorial. The height which de Cavagnal and his com- 
panions reported in 1721, is still the height at that point. 

Mons. "Borassaw" told still further of Niagara wonders. 
He thought that if the total descent of the river, including 
the lower rapids, were taken into account, the earlier reports 
of the height of the fall might not be far out of the way. 
He mentioned the terrible whirlpools, and the noise, which 
Mr. Dudley decided was not so terrible as Father Hennepin 
had reported, since one could converse easily close by ; 
and dwelt especially upon "la brume," the mist or shower 
which the falls make : "So extraordinary, as to be seen at 
five Leagues distance, and rises as high as the common 
Clouds. In this Brume or Cloud, when the Sun shines, you 
have always a glorious Rainbow." The Canadian's graphic 



50 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

account of Niagara phenomena served a good purpose in 
toning down the earlier exaggerations; but, reported Mr. 
Dudley, ''He confirms Father Hennepin's and Mr. Kellug's 
Account of the large Trouts of those Lakes, and solemnly 
affirmed there was one taken lately, that weighed eighty-six 
pounds.""* 

Two or three days-^ after the arrival of Longueuil and 
his party, there came two other canoes ; one laden with mer- 
chandise bound for Detroit ; in the other were four traders 
and the famous Jesuit, Father Charlevoix. 

It was "two o'clock in the afternoon" of May 22d that 
Charlevoix reached the mouth of the Niagara. He had 
passed the neglected waste, the site of Denonville's and 
La Salle's earlier establishments, not stopping until he 
reached Joncaire's cabin — "to which," he wrote a few days 
later, "they have beforehand given the name of fort : for it 
is pretended that in time this will be changed into a great 
fortress." There were here now, all told, some fifty French- 
men, a most distinguished company to be found, this May 
evening of the year 1721, harbored together in a rough house 
under the Niagara escarpment at the edge of the rapids, 
Here these comrades in arms and adventure feasted to- 
gether on fresh fish which Seneca and Mississauga boys 
brought them from the river, with roast venison or other 
provision from the forest, well prepared by Longueuil's own 
cooks ; not forgetting the comfort of French liquors or other 
luxuries which the voyager of quality was sure to carry with 
him into the wilderness. They gave the priest a welcome at 
the board, and he, being no ascetic, was glad to join them. 
It is a pleasure to conjure up the jovial gathering — a rare 



24. See "An Account of the Falls of the River Niagara, taken at Albany, 
Oct. 10, 1 72 1, from Monsieur Borassaw, a French native of Canada. By the 
Hon. Paul Dudley, Esq., F. R. S.," in Philosophical Transactions, Royal Soc, 
London, 1722. Dudley's record of Borassaw is also given in Vol. Ill, "The 
Gallery of Nature and Art" (6 vols.), 2d ed., London, 1818. See also Vol. 
XIII of La Roche's "Memoires liter, de la Grande Bretagne," La Haye, 
1721-26. 

25. Durant says May 21st; Charlevoix says he arrived at Niagara on 
the afternoon of May 22d. — "Journal Historique," Letter XIV. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 51 

occasion in a history which usually presents to the student 
a dismal and distressed aspect, often deepening into tragedy. 

The French officers were extremely well satisfied with 
what they found on the Niagara. A council was held at 
which the Senecas made their usual facile promises and Jon- 
caire spoke "with all the good sense of a Frenchman, whereof 
he enjoys a large share, and with the sublimest eloquence of 
an Iroquoise." 

The officers were to set off on their mission the next day. 
That evening a Mississauga Indian invited them to a "fes- 
tival," as Charlevoix calls it ; and although by this time he 
was not without some acquaintance with Indian ways, the 
priest found it "singular enough." As this is the first "fes- 
tival" on the banks of the Niagara which has been reported 
for us, the reader may find pleasure in joining the party, 
with the Jesuit historian for mentor : 

"It was quite dark when it began, and on entering the 
cabin of this Indian, we found a fire lighted, near which 
sat a man beating on a kind of drum ; another was con- 
stantly shaking his chichicoue, and singing at the same time. 
This lasted two hours and tired us very much as they were 
always repeating the same thing over again, or rather utter- 
ing half articulated sounds, and that without the least varia- 
tion. We entreated our host not to carry this prelude any 
further, who with a good deal of difficulty showed us this 
mark of complaisance. 

"Next, five or six women made their appearance, drawing 
up in a line, in very close order, their arms hanging down, 
and dancing and singing at the same time, that is to say, 
they moved some paces forwards, and then as many back- 
wards, without breaking the rank. When they had con- 
tinued this exercise about a quarter of an hour, the fire, 
which vv^as all that gave light in the cabin, was put out, and 
then nothing was to be perceived but an Indian dancing 
with a lighted coal in his mouth. The concert of the drum 
and chichicoue still continued, the women repeating their 
dances and singing from time to time ; the Indian danced 
all the while, but as he could only be distinguished by the 



52 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

light of the coal in his mouth he appeared like a goblin, and 
was horrible to see. This medley of dancing, and singing, 
and instruments, and that fire which never went out, had a 
very wild and whimsical appearance, and diverted us for 
half an hour ; after which we went out of the cabin, though 
the entertainment lasted till morning." The discreet father 
naively adds to his fair correspondent: "This, madam, is 
all I saw of the fire-dance, and I have not been able to learn 
what passed the remainder of the night." He speculates 
at length on how the chief performer could have held a 
live coal in his mouth ; the Indians, he is told, know a plant 
which renders the part that has been rubbed with it insen- 
sible to fire, "but whereof they would never communicate 
the discovery to the Europeans." With the known proper- 
ties of cocaine and some other drugs in mind, this explana- 
tion would seem in a degree plausible ; against the theory 
is the fact that the pharmacopaea has pretty thoroughly 
tested all the plants which the Indian of these latitudes could 
have known. There was probably a good deal of charle- 
tanry about the exhibition which so puzzled the good priest. 
To Charlevoix, the environs of Magazin Royal were far 
from pleasing. Most of the modern visitors who resort to 
the vicinity in thousands every summer, find the prospect 
uncommonly attractive. Here the wild gorge of the Niagara 
ends, and between alluvial banks the beautiful river, as if 
wearied with its struggles above, continues at a slower pace 
toward the blue Ontario. At landings, on the Lewiston or 
Queenston sides, are steamers with flags a-flutter waiting 
for the throngs of tourists. Trolley-cars shuttle back and 
forth, their road-beds scarring and changing the old slopes. 
On the Canadian side, cedars and other wild growth still 
soften the outlines of the heights, crowned with a noble 
Corinthian shaft in memory of the heroic Brock. A bridge, 
the second that has swung across the river at the mouth of 
the gorge, and, on the American side, a steam railroad, have 
still further contributed to the obliteration of natural out- 
lines. But nothing short of a cataclysm can destroy the 
beauty of the place. The heights are green and pleasant, 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 53 

easily reached by winding roads, crowned with grain-fields 
and orchards. Below are the quiet, picturesque villages of 
Lewiston and Oueenston, and all the low country is a 
garden. 

Not so did it appear to Charlevoix, who protested that 
"nothing but zeal for the public good could possibly induce 
an officer to remain in such a country as this, than which 
a wilder and more frightful is not to be seen. On the one 
side you see just under your feet, and as it were at the bot- 
tom of an abyss, a great river, but which in this place is 
like a torrent by its rapidity, by the whirlpools formed by a 
thousand rocks, through which it with difficulty finds a pas- 
sage, and by the foam with which it is alw^ays covered. On 
the other, the view is confined by three mountains placed one 
over the other, and whereof the last hides itself in the 
clouds. This would have been a very proper scene for the 
poets to make the Titans attempt to scale the heavens. In 
a word, on whatever side you turn your eyes, you discover 
nothing which does not inspire a secret horror." This shows 
a favorite form of the exaggeration to which the priest was 
addicted ; he has elsewhere described mere oak trees as 
reaching "to the clouds." 

After the departure of the officers, he made the long 
portage and continued his journey. Once up the heights, 
he acknowledged a change of sentiment. "Beyond those 
uncultivated and uninhabitable mountains, you enjoy the 
sight of a rich country, magnificent forests, beautiful and 
fruitful hills ; you breathe the purest air, under the mildest 
and most temperate climate imaginable." His passage up 
the Niagara, it will be remembered, was at the end of May. 
He visited the falls, of which he wrote on the spot a long 
description, sending it back to Montreal by some voyageurs 
whom he met at the entrance to Lake Erie ; whence, on May 
27th, he continued his long canoe voyage to the westward. 
The goods for trade and for the post at Detroit were labori- 
ously packed over the portage. Voyageurs and Indians, 
sweating and straining, bore inverted on their shoulders the 
long bark canoes, up the steep heights and along the forest 
path to quiet water above the cataract. 



54 THE STORY OF JO NC AIRE. 

Setting out in the other direction, our tourist officers, 
with De Noyan, Laubinois and Durant, departed on the 
22d, and on reaching the lake turned their prow westward, 
to make their way to Fort Frontenac along the north shore 
of the lake. 

Nearly a month later Chaplain Durant, making his way 
to Albany with a delegation of Indians, met Joncaire at the 
mouth of the Oswego River. "I asked him," the chaplain 
writes, "what he had done with these savages upon the sub- 
ject of the voyage he had undertaken to them. He answered 
me, 'I have beat the Bush and Mr. de Longueuil will take 
the birds. Our voyage will do him honor at the Court 
of France,' and explained himself no further," A little 
advanced on his way, above the Oswego falls, Durant met 
Longueuil and La Chauvignerie. "Have you succeeded," 
he asked, "in engaging the Five Nations to defend the Post 
of Niagara?" They answered that the chiefs of the Senecas, 
Cayugas, Oneidas and Onondagas had given them "good 
words," promised to tell him further at Montreal, and hur- 
ried on towards Lake Ontario. 

The French officers were little inclined to make a confi- 
dant of the priest, and with good reason, for he was then, 
as he had been at Niagara, virtually a spy in the English 
interest. John Durant was a Recollect, a Frenchman who 
claimed to be of Huguenot family, which, perhaps, accounts 
for his resolve to change both his country and his religion. 
Apparently his Niagara visit suggested the way to him. 
He had been stationed at Fort Frontenac, and returned 
thither from Niagara ; but on June 13th he deserted that 
post and his charge, and with an Indian escort set out 
for Albany, where he stated his case to Governor Burnet, 
and gave him a journal of what he had seen and heard 
at Niagara. It is from that journal that a portion of the 
foregoing narrative is drawn.-*' Burnet made Durant the 
bearer of his own report to the Lords of Trade in Lon- 
don, together with a letter commending the author for 
favor and suggesting reward for his services. In due time 

26. See Durant's Memorial, etc., N. Y. Col. Docs., V, 588-591. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 55 

the thanks of the Lords of Trade were sent back to Gov- 
ernor Burnet, with the assurance that "we have done what 
we could for his [Durant's] service, tho' not with so much 
success as we cou'd wish"-' ; and we hear no more o*^ Chap- 
lain Durant, the Huguenot Spy of the Niagara. 



VII. Governor Burnet gets Interested. 

William Burnet was appointed Governor of the Colonies 
of New York and New Jersey, April 19, 1720. He was no 
sooner established in his new office than he began a zealous 
campaign against the advances of the French. In his first 
communication to the Lords of Trade, Sept. 24, 1720, just 
one week after his arrival in New York, he stated that 
"there may be effectual measures taken for fortifying & 
securing the Frontier against the French, who are more 
industrious than ever in seducing our Indians to their Inter- 
ests & have built trading Houses in their country." In 
November, reporting the result of the Legislative Assem- 
bly of 1720, he declared it his intention to build a new fort 
at Niagara and a small one at Onondaga. He complained 
that the French "tryed to seduce the Sinnekees" by sending 
priests among them, grotesquely declaring this to be a breach 
of the treaty which required the French "not to molest the 
Five Nations" ! "This," he added, "besides their continuing 
to fortify at Niagara shews how much they take advantage 
of the unsettled state of the limits between the Crowns." ^^ 

"When I get the King's presents to the Indians, which 
I hope will be dispatched," he suggestively wrote, "I pro- 
pose to go into the Indian country through the five nations 
and give them these presents at their own homes when I 
come among the Sinnekees I will propose to them my 
design to build a Fort at Niagara & leave a whole company 
of souldiers to guard it and be a defence to the Indians 
against the French and to make this succeed the better I 



27. Lords of Trade to Burnet, Whitehall, June 6, 1722. 

28. Burnet to the Lords of Trade, June 18, 1721. 



56 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

intend to give land to the officers and souldiers & to the 
Palatines and all others that will go there by this means in 
a year or two the country which is very fruitful will main- 
tain itself and be the finest Settlement in the Province 
because it is seated in the Pass where all the Indians in our 
dependance go over to hunt and trade with the Farr Indians 
it will likewise make it practicable to have another settle- 
ment above the Fall of Niagara where vessells may be built 
to trade into all the Great Lakes of North America with 
all the Indians bordering on them, with whom we may have 
an immense Trade never yet attempted by us and now 
carried on by the French with goods brought from this 
Province." 

The project does credit to the Governor's zeal and enthu- 
siasm, but it came to naught, so far as Niagara was con- 
cerned. In a representation to the King the following year, 
the advantage is urged of building a fort "in the country of 
the Seneca Indians, near the Lake Ontario, which, perhaps, 
might be done with their consent by the means of presents, 
and it should the rather be attempted without the loss of 
time, to prevent the French from succeeding in the same 
design, which they are now actually endeavoring at"-°; 
and the King's attention was especially directed to Burnet's 
Niagara scheme, but no royal encouragement was given. 
The Governor himself, in his report to the Lords of Trade 
for 1721, reviews at length the protest he had made to the 
Canadian Governor because of the French establishment 
at Niagara, but says nothing more of his own proposi- 
tion for that river. He had sent instead a small company 
to carry on trade at Irondequoit Bay. The Palatines, whom 
he had considered as available Niagara colonists, had ob- 
jected to such an exile in a distant and probably hostile wil- 
derness, and had been given their now historic lands on the 
Mohawk. 

One phase of the establishment at Irondequoit must be 
noted in tracing the history of the Niagara. The company 
of seven young Dutchmen who spent the winter of 1 721 -'22 
at Irondequoit, were under the command of Capt. Peter 



29. "State of the British Plantations in America," 1721. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 67 

Schuyler, Jr. To him Governor Burnet gave explicit in- 
structions for the regulation of trade and the control of his 
party. In a postscript to his letter of instructions he wrote: 

''Whereas it is thought of great use to the British In- 
terest to have a Settlem^ upon the nearest part of the lake 
Eree near the falls of lagara you are to Endeavour to pur- 
chase in his ]\Iajesty's»name of the Sinnekes or other native 
propriators all such Lands above the falls of lagara fifty 
miles to the southward of the said falls which they can dis- 
pose of." 

If young Schuyler made any efforts to make this pur- 
chase, the record of it is not known. When he returned with 
his band to Albany in September, 1722, Joncaire still con- 
tinued commandant at Magazin Royal, and trade-master 
of the Niagara region. 

In June, 1722, the Lords of Trade, replying to Burnet's 
proposition of a year and a half before, hoped that the fort 
which he would build on the Niagara would effectually 
check the efforts of the French at that point, but advised 
him to "take the consent of the Indian Proprietors" before 
he built. A year later — June 25, 1723 — Burnet wrote that 
if he could get the Two-per-cent. Act confirmed, he should 
be "very ernest to build a Fort in the Indian Country 
among the Sinnekees," but subsequent events showed that 
he no longer thought Niagara the place for his establish- 
ment. The statement of the contemporary English his- 
torian, that a number of young men were at this time 
sent into Western New York "as far as the Pass between 
the Great Lakes at the Falls of lagara to learn the language 
of these Indians & to renew the Trade," ^" — that is to build 
up a direct traffic with the Western Indians which had been 
neglected for the easier barter of English goods to the 
French — apparently refers to the short-lived establishment 
at Irondequoit, already referred to. Evidence is lacking 
to show that the English or Dutch gained any foothold on 
the Niagara at this period. 

In 1724, with due consent of the "Indian Proprietors," 
Burnet made his famous establishment at the mouth of the 



30. Colden's "Account of the Trade of New York," 1723. 



58 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Oswego River, which was the foundation of the present 
city of Oswego. At the time, however, probably no one 
was dreaming of future cities. It was but a new move in 
the century-long game for the fur trade. One might say, 
with some accuracy, that it was Joncaire's trading-house on 
the Niagara that provoked the English to make a like estab- 
lishment, though much better built, at Oswego ; and it was 
the English at Oswego that spurred the French to hasten 
the construction of the stone Fort Niagara. A broader 
statement of the situation, however, would show that these 
establishments by no means represented all the efforts which 
the rivals were putting forth at this period to secure the 
Indian trade. 

The English in particular were successful in other ways. 
One of the first legislative acts passed under Burnet had 
aimed to put a stop to the direct trade between the English 
and the French. It had long been the custom for Albany 
traders to carry English-made goods to Montreal, selling 
them to the French who in turn traded them to the Indians. 
The English could supply certain articles which were more 
to the savage taste than those sent over from France; and 
they could afford to sell them at a lower price. Having 
stopped the peddling to the French, Governor Burnet made 
strong efforts to draw the far Western Indians to Albany 
for trade direct with them. In these efforts he was fairly 
successful. Bands of strange savages from Mackinac and 
beyond, accompanied by their squaws and papooses, pre- 
sented themselves at Albany, where their kind had never 
been seen before. They had come down Lake Huron, past 
the French at Detroit, and through Lake Erie; and pad- 
dling down the swift reaches of the navigable Niagara had 
made the portage, reembarking below the heights and at 
the very doorway of the French trading-house ; with some 
interchange, no doubt, of jeers and imprecations, but none 
of furs for French goods ; and following the historic high- 
way for canoes, they skirted the Ontario shore to the Oswe- 
go, than passed up that river, through Oneida Lake and 
down the Mohawk, until they could lay their bundles of 
beaver skins before the English, on the strand at Albany. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 59 

This was, indeed, a triumph of trade. They spoke a 
language which the traders there had never heard, but they 
brought many packs of furs ; and with, perhaps, a double 
interpretation, the business sped to the entire satisfaction of 
the English. These people came in various bands ; about 
twenty hunters, in the spring of 1722; and in the spring of 
1723 over eighty, besides their numerous train of women and 
children ; with sundry other parties following. They trav- 
eled over 1,200 miles to get to Albany. 

Burnet was delighted with this proof that even with their 
Magazin Royal at the foot of the Niagara portage, the 
French did not by any means have a monopoly of the busi- 
ness. The English emissaries in the country of the Five 
Nations were as active as ever was Joncaire, and at this 
period appear to have been even more successful, Burnet 
attributed the increased trade to the stoppage of the English- 
French barter above mentioned and to "the Company whom 
I have kept in the Sinnekees Country whose business it has 
been to persuade all the Indians that pass by to come rather 
to trade at Albany than at Montreal, and as the Indians that 
come from the remote Lakes to go to Canada are commonly 
in want of Provisions when they come below the falls of 
Niagara, they are obliged to supply themselves in the Sin- 
nekees Country where our people are and then they may 
take their choice where they will go, which considering the 
experience they have now had of the cheapness of Goods in 
this Province, we need not fear will be universally in our 
favor." 31 

So well disposed were these Western Indian traders 
towards the English, that they entered into a "League of 
Friendship" at Albany, which both Governor Burnet and 
Surveyor-General Colden construed as a desire to join the 
Six Nations, "that they may be esteemed the seventh Nation 
under the English Protection" — a matter for which the Eng- 
lish were presumably far more eager than was the ancient 
League of the Iroquois, now, alas, past the splendid meridian 
of its strength. Its remaining energies w^ere to be dissipated 
in the strife of the usurping strangers. 



31. Burnet to Lords of Trade, June 25, 1723. 



60 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Burnet's dealings with the Five Nations were conspicuous 
for fairness and sagacity. In order to thwart the French, 
and bring the Western fur trade to the New York Colony, 
he could afford to be generous, especially to the Senecas, 
whose aid was indispensable. In his first meeting with them, 
at Albany, in September, 1721, he so won their good will 
that they declared they would not let the French fortify 
Niagara. The French, they protested, had deceived them 
there some thirty years ago, pretending to get permission to 
build a storehouse, and then fortifying it without permis- 
sion; but, said the Indians, we pulled it down. They did 
not exactly promise to do so again, but said: "We are 
resolved as soon as any French come to the Five Nations to 
tell them to pull down that trading Flouse at Onjarara, and 
not to come either to settle or Trade among us any more." 

The protestations of friendship at this council, on the part 
of the Five Nations — still referred to as the Five Nations, 
though since the inclusion of the Tuscaroras in 171 5, really 
become six — were somewhat warmer than usual. The con- 
ference was shared in by the Governor "and diverse gentle- 
men from New York that attended his Excellency." by 
Captain Robert Walters, Cadwallader Colden and James 
Alexander of the Royal Council, by the twelve Commission- 
ers of Indian Affairs, headed by Colonel Peter Schuyler, by 
the Mayor and Aldermen of Albany, and, no doubt, by such 
unofficial spectators as could gain admission. The Mohawks, 
Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas were all repre- 
sented by painted, be-feathered and greedy sachems. Their 
chief spokesman was not content, before so august an assem- 
blage, with the more ordinary pledges of friendship. 

"We call you Brother," he said, holding out the belt of 
wampum, "and so we ought to do, and to love one another 
as well as those that have sucked on [one] breast, for we are 
Brethren indeed, and hope to live and dye so," and he prom- 
ised on behalf of the Five Nations "to keep the Covenant 
Chain inviolable as long as Sun & Moon endure." It is not 
impossible that the Indians had wind of the great present 
they were to receive — "as noble a Present," Burnet wrote 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 61 

afterwards, "as ever was given them from His Majesty King 
George." At the close of the formal proceedings the Indians 
told the Governor that they heard he had lately been mar- 
ried.^- "We are glad of it," they said, "and wish you much 
Joy And as a token of our Rejoycing We present a few 
Beavers to your Lady for Pin Money," adding with amus- 
ing frankness, "It is Customary for a Brother upon his Mar- 
ryage to invite his Brethren to be Merry and Dance." 

The Governor did not disappoint them. The gifts which 
he now spread before them would have filled a warehouse. 
The list, which has been preserved,^^ is not uninstructive. 
There were given to the Indians on this occasion five pieces 
of strouds [worth at that time £io per piece in New York and 
upwards of $13 at Montreal], five of dufifels, five of blankets, 
four of "half thicks," fifty fine shirts, 213 Ozibrigg^* 
shirts, fifty red coats, fifty pairs of stockings, six dozen 
scissors, fourteen dozen knives, four dozen jack-knives, five 
dozen square looking-glasses and thirty dozen of round hand- 
mirrors, twenty-eight parcels of gartering and twelve of 
binding, twenty pounds of beads, twenty brass kettles, fifty 
guns, 1,000 pounds of powder in bags, 200 povmds of bar 
lead, ten cases of ball, 1,500 gun-flints, twelve dozen jews- 
harps, six and one-half barrels of tobacco, and last, but very 
far from least, a hogshead of rum. There were besides 
private presents to the sachems, including guns, powder, 
shirts, laced coats and laced hats, and special portions of 
liquor. Even this was not enough. Governor Burnet "in 
the name of his Majesty, Ordered them some Barrls of Beer 
to be merry withall and dance, which they did according 
to their Custom and were extreamlv well Satisfved." 



32. He had married a daughter of Abraham Van Home, a prominent New 
York merchant. 

33. Minutes of Conference at Albany, Sept. 7, 1721, kept by Robt. 
Livingston, Sec'y for Indian Affairs. 

34. A coarse linen much used in the Indian trade. The name is often 
written "Oznabrigg," but the correct form is Oznaburg, after the city so 
named in Germany, whence these linens were originally imported. The name 
came to be applied to coarse linens made elsewhere. "Duffels" were coarse 
woolen cloths, the name probably derived from Duffel in the Netherlands. 



62 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

And back to their several villages the loaded retinue 
went ; up the Mohawk, to Onondaga ; the diminishing party 
continuing, now by lake and stream, now filing along the 
old trails, to the Seneca towns in the valley of the Genesee 
and to the westward. Red coats, hand-mirrors and new 
guns were hard arguments to be overcome by the pinched 
French at Magazin Royal. 

It was on the strength of the good will of the Senecas, 
won at this conference, that Burnet ventured to send his 
young men, under Captain Schuyler — son of Peter Schuyler, 
President of the Council — to attempt a settlement at Iron- 
dequoit on Lake Ontario. Burnet hoped that others would 
join him there ; but caused it to be clearly understood that 
the place was indisputably in the Indians' possession. It 
was merely to serve as a depot of English goods, where 
Western traders, who would pass by the French establish- 
ment on the Niagara, were to be supplied on terms far more 
liberal than the French could afford. With the one possible 
exception of powder, the English could furnish everything 
used in the Indian trade more cheaply than the French, sup- 
plying, of course, rum instead of brandy, a substitution to 
which the red man made no demur, so long as the quantity 
was ample. 



VIII. The Building of Fort Niagara. 

We are now come to the point in our story where the 
testimony of the ancient manuscripts is quickened, vivified, 
by an existing landmark. The stone house popularly known 
as the "castle," the most venerable of the group of structures 
in the Government reserve of Fort Niagara, dates, in its 
oldest parts, from 1726. Vaudreuil conceived the project 
of it ; Longueuil the younger and Joncaire gained the uncer- 
tain consent of the Five Nations for its erection ; and 
Gaspard Chaussegros de Lery, the King's chief engineer in 
Canada, determined its exact location and superintended its 
construction. 

When the Marquis de Vaudreuil learned, Dec. 8, 1724, 
of the operations of the English at Oswego, he realized at 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 63 

once that another move in the game must be made by the 
French if they would retain even a share of that portion of 
the fur trade which made the Great Lakes its highway to 
market. Joncaire's feeble establishment was in danger of 
eclipse, of being cut out, by the rum and other superior 
inducements which the English were so lavishly offering. 
It is evident that the Governor studied the situation thor- 
oughly that winter. By spring he had made up his mind. 
He wrote to the Minister, May 25th, that, should the Eng- 
lish undertake to make a permanent establishment at Os- 
wego, nothing remained but to fortify Niagara. He could 
say "fortify" to the Minister, though to the Iroquois dec- 
larations must continue to be made, that their devoted 
father — Onontio — sought only to build a trading-house — a 
storehouse — anything, so long as it was not called fort. He 
proposed first to build two barques on Lake Ontario, which 
should not only carry materials for the proposed construc- 
tion at Niagara, but could cruise the lake and intercept 
Indian parties on their way to trade with the English. The 
building at Niagara, the Minister was informed, "will not 
have the appearance of a fort, so that no offense will be 
given to the Iroquois, who have been unwilling to allow 
any there, but it will answer the purpose of a fort just as 
well." 

The Intendant, M. Begon, approved the project. Under 
date of June 10, 1725, he wrote to the Minister, that in view 
of the great importance of doing everything possible to pre- 
vent the English from driving the French from Niagara, 
"we have determined to build at Fort Frontenac two 
barques to serve in case of need against the English, to 
drive them from that establishment [Niagara] and also to 
serve for carrying materials with which to build a stone 
fort at Niagara, which we hold to be necessary to put that 
post in a state of defense against the English" as well as 
against the Iroquois. He added that these boats would be 
very useful in time of peace, sailing between La Galette, 
Frontenac and Niagara, and carrying provisions, munitions 
of war, merchandise for trade, and peltries, reducing the 



64 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

expense below that of canoe service. "They will serve also 
as far as Niagara for the transport of provisions, merchan- 
dise and peltries for all those belonging to the posts in the 
upper country, or who go up with trade permits. The 
freight which they will be able to carry will compensate the 
King for the cost of construction. 

'T sent, for this purpose, in February last, two carpenters 
and four sawyers, who arrived at Fort Frontenac, traveling 
on the ice, the 26th of the same month. I am informed that 
during the winter they cut the wood needed and have barked 
and sawed a part of it. I have also sent nine other carpen- 
ters and two blacksmiths, who set out from Montreal on the 
15th of last month, to hurry on the work, that these boats 
may be ready to sail the coming autumn." ^^ 

A postscript to this letter adds : "Since writing, M. de 
Joncaire has come down and tells me that the Iroquois will 
not interfere with building the boats, and will not oppose 
the Niagara establishment, asking only that there should 
not be built there a stone fort." 

As the years passed, it was Joncaire who more and more 
represented the power of France on the Niagara. He it 
was to whom the Governor of Canada entrusted the deli- 
cate business of maintaining amicable relations with the 
Senecas ; and on his reports and advice depended in con- 
siderable measure the attitude of the French towards their 
ever-active rivals. In November, 1724, Vaudreuil had writ- 
ten to the Minister that in order to retain the Five Nations 
in their "favorable dispositions," he thought he "could not 
do better than to send Sieur de Joncaire to winter at Ni- 
agara and among the Senecas. According to the news to 
be received from Sieur de Joncaire," added the Governor, 
"I shall determine whether to send Sieur de Longueuil to 
the Onontagues, among whom he has considerable influ- 
ence." 



35. These barques were commanded by sailing-masters Gagnon and Goue- 
ville. Each had four sailors, with six soldiers to help. A memorandum states 
that the operations of the vessels in 1727 cost 5775 livres, 3 sols (sous), 11 
deniers. A sailor received for a season's work 530 livres, the masters 803 
livres each. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 65 

That Joncaire's news was favorable, is evident from the 
sequel ; for Longueuil was sent to the Onondagas, from 
whom he gained a dubious consent that the French might 
build a fort at the mouth of the Niagara. In June, 1725, 
Joncaire went down from the Seneca Castle — near present 
Geneva — to Quebec, where he assured the Intendant, Begon, 
that the Iroquois were pledged not to interfere with the 
construction of the two barques then building at Fort Fron- 
tenac, *'nor oppose the establishment at Niagara, only re- 
quiring that no stone fort should be erected there." Ac- 
cording to the French reports, this last stipulation was soon 
set aside, for in the dispatches of Vaudreuil and Begon to 
the Minister, dated May 7, 1726, telling of Longueuil's mis- 
sion to the Five Nations, one reads as follows : 

"He repaired next to Onontague, an Iroquois village, 
and found the Deputies from the other four villages there 
waiting for him ; he got them to consent to the construc- 
tion of two barques, and to the erection of a stone house at 
Niagara, the plan of which he designed." 

This mission of Longueuil proved an eventful one. He 
was charged to cross Lake Ontario to order the English to 
withdraw from Oswego. A curious meeting ensued. At 
the mouth of the river he found 100 Englishmen with sixty 
canoes. They stopped him, called for his pass, and showed 
him their instructions from the Governor of New York, not 
to let any Frenchman go by without a passport. Then the 
doughty Canadian, not relishing the idea of being under 
English surveillance, turned to the Iroquois chiefs who 
were present, and taunted them with being no longer masters 
of their own territory. His harangue had the desired effect. 
The Indians, galled by his words, broke out against the 
English with violent reproaches and threats. "You have 
been permitted to come here to trade," they said, "but we 
will not suffer anything more." They promised Longueuil 
that in the event of a French war with the English, they 
would remain neutral ; and the delighted emissary turned 
his back on the discomfited Englishmen, who dared not 
interfere, and accompanied by a large volunteer retinue of 
Indians, continued his journey to Onondaga. 



66 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Here the deputies of the Five Nations gathered to meet 
them. He showed them the plan he had designed for a 
house at Niagara. The report as subsequently laid before 
the Minister and Louis XV., says "a stone house." It is by 
no means certain that Longueuil gave the Indians this idea. 
According to the version they gave, when taken to task the 
next year by Gov. Burnet, the French officer told the Onon- 
dagas "that he had built a Bark House at Niagara, which 
was old and began to decay, that he could no longer keep 
his goods dry in it, and was now come to desire leave to 
build a bigger house, wherein his goods might be safe 
from rain, and said that if they consented that he might 
build a house there and have vessels in Cadaracqui lake 
[Ontario], he promised it should be for their good, peace 
and quietness, and for their children's children, that the 
French would protect them for three hundred years." The 
Senecas were reported to have protested ; they sent a wam- 
pum belt to the Onondagas, with the warning that "in case 
the French should desire to make any Building or Settle- 
ment at Niagara or at Ochsweeke [Lake Erie] or elsewhere 
on their land, they should not give their consent to it." But 
the Onondagas, "being prevailed upon by Fair speeches and 
promises, rejected the Sinnekes belt, and gave the French 
leave for building at Niagara." It was Joncaire, as we have 
seen, who overcame the objection of the Senecas. Return- 
ing from their country, he brought word that they would 
not hinder the construction, though he had previously cau- 
tioned Vaudreuil not to attempt a stone building. But the 
elder Longueuil, writing to the Minister under date of Oct. 
31, 1725, explicitly says of his son's achievement: "The 
Sieur de Longueuil, having repaired to the Onondaga vil- 
lage, found there the deputies of the other four Iroquois 
villages. He met them there, he got them to consent to the 
construction of the two barques and to the building of a 
stone house at Niagara." It was to be no fort, but "a house 
of solid masonry, where all things needed for trade with the 
Indians could be safely kept, and for this purpose he would 
go to Niagara to mark out the spot on which this house 
might be erected, to which they consented." 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 67 

The sequence of events in this affair affords a striking 
illustration of the way in which things were taken for 
granted, or work undertaken before official sanction was ob- 
tained or funds made available. The two barques, without 
which the construction of Fort Niagara would have been 
impossible, were being built before the Indians had given 
their consent to it. The consent of the Indians to the erec- 
tion of the fort was not gained until after its erection had 
been fully determined upon by the French; and all of this 
important work was well in hand long before the Depart- 
ment in France had provided funds for it. The plan of the 
Niagara house, which is spoken of as designed by Longueuil, 
was sent to the Minister in France, with an estimate of the 
cost, amounting to 29,295 livres.^*' Various estimates are 
m.entioned in the dispatches of the time. De Maurepas, per- 
plexed by a multiplicity of demands, endorsed upon these 
dispatches : "It seems necessary to forego, this year, the 
grant of 29,295 li., and 13,090 li. for the house at Niagara 
and the construction of the two barques." At Versailles, 
April 29, 1727, Louis expressed his satisfaction at the 
construction of Fort Niagara, and promised to "cause to 
be appropriated in next year's Estimate for the Western 
Domain, the sum of 20,430 li., the amount of the expense, 
according to the divers estimates they have sent, and as the 
principal house at the mouth of the river must have been 
finished this spring, his Majesty's intention is, that Sieurs 
de Beauharnois and Duypuy [Dupuy] adopt measures to 
rebuild the old house next Autumn. This they will find the 
more easy, as the two barques built at Fort Frontenac will 
aid considerably in transporting materials. His Majesty 
agrees with them in opinion that the Iroquois will not take 
any umbrage at this, for besides being considered' only as 
the reconstruction of the house already there, it will be used, 
at least during the Peace, only for Trade. They will, mean- 
while, adopt with those Indians such precautions as they 
shall consider necessary, to neutralize any new impressions 
of distrust the English would not fail to insinuate among 
them on this occasion. This must prompt them to have the 

36. The livre of the time corresponds to the modern franc. 



68 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

work pushed on with the greatest possible diligence." The 
King afterwards disapproved of any further outlay for "the 
old house," and Joncaire's establishment at the head of the 
lower navigation on the Niagara was never rebuilt. 

It was true then, as now, that building expenses do not 
always work out according to specifications. In October, 
1727, we find Dupuy trying to explain his heavy expenses: 
"The house at Niagara cost infinitely more than the 29,295 
li. granted for last year. The expeditions which we have 
had to send there in 1726 and this year have greatly in- 
creased the cost of freight and transportation of provisions 
needed there." 

Vaudreuil had hoped to have the vessels on Lake Ontario 
ready by the autumn of 1725 ; but no record is found stating 
that they sailed to the Niagara that year. The testimony of 
the correspondence, so far as known, shows that the vessels 
did not carry building material or workmen to the Niagara 
until navigation opened in the spring of 1726.^" The Baron 
de Longueuil wrote, Oct. 31, 1725: "The two barques have 
been finished this autumn, they will be ready to sail next 
Spring, and to carry the stone and other material needed for 
building the stone house at Niagara," etc. They were to 
take out on their first voyage, ten masons and four carpen- 
ters and joiners, besides the 100 soldiers with six officers 
detailed for the enterprise. 

Vaudreuil, as we have seen, had written that Longueuil 
had designed a plan for the proposed establishment on the 
Niagara, and it may have been in accordance with the sug- 
gestions of this soldier that the work was begun ; but for 
such a construction as was desired, expert engineering 
ability was required. There was but one man in Canada 
qualified to undertake the task, and to him the Baron de 



37. The local histories and narratives relating to Fort Niagara usually 
give the date of its commencement as 1725. There is some discrepancy of 
dates in the documents, or copies of original documents, which I have examined; 
but it is plain that work on the "castle" was not begun until June, 1726. That 
the reader may know on what I base my conclusions, I have given in my 
narrative ample extracts from the documents themselves. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 69- 

Longueuil — then governor ad interim, wrote under date of 
March 28, 1726: 

"I beg Monsieur Chaussegros de Lery, engineer, to work 
without let-up in building the Niagara house, which he will 
place wherever he shall judge it most advisable. It is a 
work of absolute necessity, the old house being of wood and 
offering no means of preservation, unless it is fortified. It 
is moreover the greatest consequence to profit by the favor- 
able disposition of the Iroquois in regard to us. I under- 
take to have this expense approved by the Court." 

Gaspard Chaussegros de Lery, who now becomes an im- 
portant figure in the story of the Niagara, was the son of an 
engineer of Toulon, where he was born, Oct. 13, 1682. 
Trained to his father's profession, w^e find him, in 1706, 
serving in the army of Italy, and gaining glory and a wound 
at the siege of Turin. A later service in the squadron of the 
Marquis de Forbin, took him to the coast of Scotland and 
won him a captain's rank in the infantry regiment of Sault. 
When the navy board (for so we may render "le conseil du 
marine") decided in 1716 to undertake a more extensive 
system of fortifications in Canada, it chose De Lery to carry 
out the royal plans. These included an elaborate refortifica- 
tion of Quebec, the building of a wall around Montreal and 
subsequently of other works at Chambly, Three Rivers and 
other points, as well as the construction of prisons and public 
buildings. De Lery came at once to the scene of his labors, 
perfected the plan of what he proposed to do at Quebec, and 
returning to Paris, submitted it to the King. His plans and 
estimates were approved and he returned to Canada to press 
forward the work. The correspondence of the time shows 
that he was much embarrassed by lack of sufficient appro- 
priations ; a fact which gives special point to the closing 
statement in M. de Longueuil's letter, assigning him to 
Niagara. Not having received any order from the Court 
to undertake this work, De Lery was apprehensive that the 
King would not approve. However, relying on the assur- 
ance of Longueuil, he devoted himself to it in the summer of 



70 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

1726. Under date of July 26th of that year the Baron de 
Longueuil wrote to the minister : 

"It is for me to inform you of the measures which I took 
this last spring for the establishment of the post of Niag- 
ara . . . and of my plan for sending to Niagara as 
soon as navigation was open, in order to forestall the Eng- 
lish, and to begin early to work on the house of which we 
have had the honor to send you the plan, in order that it 
may be completed this year. M. Begon assured me that he 
would send the workmen I had asked for, as soon as the ice 
went out, and that M. de Lery would come to Montreal at 
the same time. He arrived here in March ; and in April I 
sent the workmen with a detachment of a hundred soldiers, 
commanded by my son and four other officers. As soon as 
they arrived at Niagara, I learn by these officers, M. de Lery 
had laid out the house in another place than that which I 
had proposed to him, and which had seemed to me most 
suitable in order to make us masters of the portage, and of 
the communication between the two lakes. He will no 
doubt give you his reasons. 

"The work has been very well carried on and the fortifi- 
cations are well advanced. The barques which were built 
last year at Frontenac have been of wonderful aid. They 
sent me word the tenth of this month that the walls were 
already breast high everywhere. There has been no opposi- 
tion on the part of the Iroquois, who on the contrary appear 
well satisfied to have us near them ; but the English, rest- 
less and jealous of this establishment, have seduced and 
engaged several Seneca chiefs to come and thwart us with 
speeches of which I send herewith a copy, and which have 
had no other effect than to reassure us of the good will of 
the Iroquois." He expresses the hope that the house at 
Niagara will be finished this year, refers to the Dutch and 
English at Oswego, and adds : "The uneasiness I have felt, 
because of the English and Dutch, who had threatened to 
establish themselves at Niagara, and my fears lest the Iro- 
quois would retract the word they gave last year, have not 
permitted me to await your orders for the construction of 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 71 

this house. I beg you to approve what I have done through 
zeal for the good of this colony." 

One of the "four other officers" referred to in the fore- 
going letter, as having shared in the building of Fort Ni- 
agara, was the Sieur de Ramezay, "Chevalier of the Royal 
and Military Order of St. Louis," etc., as later memoirs 
recount his titles. He was only an ensign in the colonial 
troops in 1720, when he entered upon his Canadian service; 
and he remained in the garrison at Montreal until the spring 
of 1726, when he was appointed lieutenant and sent to 
Niagara. Another who shared in this undertaking was a 
son of Lieut. Le Verrier. The youth "showed good quali- 
ties in his service at Niagara," but becoming sick was sent 
back to Quebec. Still another unfortunate was the Sieur 
de la Loge, who received so severe an injury in one of his 
eyes, at Niagara in this summer, that it was feared he would 
lose the sight of both ; he was sent to Quebec and thence to 
Paris, that he might have the attention of the famous occu- 
list, St. Yves. 

Under date of Sept. 5, 1726, the Chevalier de Longueuil, 
son of the Baron whose letter has been quoted, wrote from 
Niagara that the new house was very much advanced, and 
would have been finished had it not been for the sickness 
that broke out among the workmen, thirty of whom had been 
ill ; but that the place was then enclosed and secured. 

De Longueuil, who knew the region well, had proposed 
that the stone house should stand further up the river, 
and on going to the Niagara, after his successful conference 
at Onondaga, had decided to place it "on a most advan- 
tageous elevation, about 170 feet from the old house, and 
some 130 feet from the edge of the river; the barques could 
there be moored to shore, under the protection of the house, 
of which they could make later on, a fort with crenelated 
enclosure or wooden stockade" ; but De Lery decided 
otherwise, holding that the angle of the lake and river 
not only commanded the portage and all communication 
between the lakes, but enabled the French to keep watch 
over Lake Ontario, so as to prevent the English from going 



72 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

to trade on the north shore of that lake. The EngHsh could 
not cross the lake in their bark canoes ; to reach the north 
side, the natural route was by skirting the shore, from 
Oswego to Niagara and westward. Hence, even though 
De Lery had placed the fort at the portage, the English 
might easily have seized the mouth of the river, and by 
controlling Lake Ontario, have blockaded the French in 
their fort and starved them into a surrender. They could 
have made it impossible for assistance to reach it from the 
base of supplies, Frontenac, or the river towns ; and they 
could have made it equally impossible for the garrison of 
Fort Niagara to withdraw. The two barques which the 
French counted so greatly upon, for communication with 
the new establishment, would often find it a tedious if not 
impossible matter to beat up to the portage against seven 
miles of steady current ; whereas the post, if placed at the 
mouth of the river, would always be accessible, these ves- 
sels making the passage from Fort Frontenac and return, 
in fair weather, in about fourteen days. All of these rea- 
sons are so cogent that one can but wonder that an officer 
of Longueuil's experience should have considered any other 
spot than that fixed upon by De Lery. The latter's capabili- 
ties as a military engineer were sometimes called in ques- 
tion. Montcalm, more than a quarter century later, spoke of 
him not only as "a great ignoramus in his profession," 
adding, "it needs only to look at his works," but declared 
that he "robbed the King like the rest" of the men who 
served as Engineers in Chief in Canada. ^^ Be that as it may, 
De Lery's judgment in locating Fort Niagara was justified 
by the circumstances. 

When the foundations of the stone house were laid and 
the walls were rising. De Lery traced a fort around them. 
He made a map of the lake, showing the mouth of the river, 
and prepared plans and elevations of the house. The draw- 
ings were forwarded to the King, and are described in the 
abstract of dispatches. The portion of the works which it 



38. Montcalm to M. de Normand, Montreal, April 12, 1759. Paris Docs., 
X, 963. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 73 

was found impossible to complete, before the winter of 
i726-'27 set in, he colored yellow. He probably procured 
part of his stone from the Heights ("Le Platon"), his timber 
from the marsh west of the river. With the map there was 
also sent a memoir "to make plain my reasons for placing 
the house ["i)iaiso)i a machicoulis"] at the [entrance of the] 
strait, where it now stands, and where the late Marquis de 
Denonville, governor-general of this country, had formerly 
built a fort, with a garrison." He sent also a plan and esti- 
mate for a small house at the Niagara portage, adding: 
"This house will be useful in time of peace, but in case of 
war with the Indians, it could scarcely be maintained, on 
account of the difficulty of relieving the garrison." The 
memoir continues : 

'T arrived, June 6th, with a detachment of troops, at the 
entrance to the river Niagara. The same day I examined 
it, with the masters of the barques. We found it not navi- 
gable for the barques." The examination must have been 
most superficial, for once past the bar at the mouth, they 
would have found a deep natural channel for seven miles. 

'T remarked, in beginning this house, that if I built it, like 
those in Canada, liable to fire, should war come and the 
savages invest it, as was the case formerly with Mons. 
Denonville's fort, if it caught fire the garrison and all the 
munitions would be wholly lost, and the [control of the] 
country as well. It was this which determined me to make 
a house proof against these accidents. Instead of wooden 
partitions {"cloisons"] I have had built bearing-walls ["des 
murs de refend"], and paved all the floors with flat stones. 
I have traced around a fort of four bastions ; and 
in order that they may defend themselves in this house, I 
have made all the garret windows machicolated ; the loft 
["grenier"] being paved with flat stones on a floor full of 
good oak joists, upon which cannon may be placed above 
this structure. Though large it would have been entirely 
finished in September, had not some French voyageurs com- 
ing from the Miamis and Illinois, in passing this post, 
spread the fever here, so that nearly all the soldiers and 



74 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

workmen have had it. This has interfered with the con- 
struction so that it has not been completed in the time that I 
had expected. There remains about a fourth of it to do 
next year. This will not prevent the garrison or traders 
from lodging- there this winter." That his own services 
should not be overlooked he added : *T have the honor to 
inform you, Monsigneur, that my journeys to Niagara 
have occupied nearly five months." 

De Lery's apprehensions regarding official approval of 
his choice of site for Fort Niagara were set at rest the next 
spring by the following letter from the new Minister of 
Marine : 

"The Marquis de Beauharnois and M. Dupuy have for- 
warded to me the maps and plans which you sent to them, 
with data explaining your reasons for building the Niagara 
house where the late Marquis de Denonville had reared a 
wooden fort, which time has destroyed, instead of placing 
it at the portage where the old house stood. His Majesty 
is pleased to approve it. He is gratified with your zeal and 
the diligence with which you have conducted the work. 
. . . The Marquis has asked for you the Cross of St. 
Louis." ^^ 



IX. The Men who Achieved the Work. 

While the King's engineer was busy with the plan and 
actual construction of the fort, Joncaire and his long-time 
friend and associate, the younger Longueuil, were fully 
occupied in keeping the savages in good humor. There is 
no known basis for the story that the French, resorting to 
stratagem, planned a hunt which should draw the Indians 
away from the spot until the building had progressed far 
enough to serve as a defense in case of attack. *'' Such a 



39. Maurepas to Chaussegros de Lery, Brest, May 13, 1727. In later 
letters it is stated that M. de Lery was to receive the coveted decoration on 
Sept. 25. '^727- 

40. "It is a traditionary story that the mess house, which is a very strong 
building and the largest in the fort, was erected by stratagem. A consider- 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 76 

Story does not accord with Joncaire's known relations with 
the Senecas. 

It was a singular council that was held on the Niagara — 
probably at the old house at Lewiston — on July 14, 1726, 
between the younger de Longueuil and representatives of 
the Five Nations. Addressing himself to the officer, one of 
the chiefs referred to the conference of the preceding spring, 
and holding out a wampum belt, said: "I perceive my death 
approaching. It is you and the English who come to destroy 
us. I beg you, cease your work until I may hear your voice 
another time. Put the time at next September, when I will 
show you what is in my heart, as I hope you will open yours 
to me." 

The shrewd commandant of Niagara was not to be di- 
verted from his purpose. "Here is your belt, my son," he 
said, taking up the wampum. "I fold it and put it back in 
your bag." The return of the wampum always signified a 
rejection of proposals. "I put it back, not purposing to dis- 
continue the works which they have sent me to do here. I 
hold fast to your former word, which consented that there 
should be built here a new and large house, to take the place 
of the old one, which can be no longer preserved. 

'T do not consider these words you now speak as coming 
from you Iroquois, but as an English speech which shall not 
stop me. See, here on the table are wine and tobacco, which 
go better than this affair, which must be forgotten and 
which I reject." 

As this "talk" was not confirmed by a belt, a second 
council was held at the unusual hour of midnight ("tenii a 
minnit"), at which a much finer belt of wampum was offered 
and accepted, with longer speeches, in which the Senecas 



able, though not powerful, body of French troops had arrived at the point. 
Their force was inferior to the surrounding Indians, of whom they were 
under some apprehensions. They obtained consent of the Indians to build a 
wigwam, and induced them, with some of their officers, to engage in an exten- 
sive hunt. The materials had been made ready and while the Indians were 
absent the French built. When the parties returned at night they had advanced 
so far with the Viork as to cover their faces and to defend themselves against 
the savages in case of an attack." — "The Falls of Niagara," by Samuel DeVeaux, 
Buffalo, 1839. 



76 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

promised to stand by the pledges which the Onondagas had 
made. "It is not only for the present that I speak," said a 
chief, "but for always. We join hands for good business, 
we five Iroquois nations, and may we always keep faith, and 
you do the same on your side." 

At the very outset of this new undertaking, the success of 
which he had so much at heart, Philippe de Rigaud, Mar- 
quis de Vaudreuil, died at Quebec, Oct. lo, 1725, and was 
buried in the church of the RecoUets at Chateau St. Louis. 
It would be superfluous here to enter upon a review of his 
long and on the whole successful administration ; but it is 
pertinent to our especial study to recall his relations to the 
Niagara region. In France, as early as 1676, he had served 
in the Royal Musketeers. In the year of his arrival in 
Canada, 1687, we find him commanding a detachment of 
the troops of the Marine, engaging in the Iroquois cam- 
paign with Denonville, and sharing in the establishment of 
the ill-fated Fort Denonville at the mouth of the Niagara. 
The knowledge of the region gained then, undoubtedly 
affected his direction, throughout many years, of the en- 
deavors of Joncaire and the younger de Longueuil. Soon 
after his first coming to Niagara, he was promoted to the 
rank of captain, for gallantry in the defense of Quebec 
against Phipps. He was decorated with the cross of St. 
Louis for a successful Indian campaign ; and in 1698, when 
Callieres succeeded Frontenac as Governor of Canada, the 
Chevalier de Vaudreuil succeeded Callieres as Governor of 
Montreal. It was in 1703 that he again followed Callieres, 
in the highest office of the colony. Though not a Canadian 
by birth, his connections by marriage were Canadian, and 
more than any other governor up to that time, he identified 
himself with colonial interests. The French in military or 
civil office in Canada were by no means always devoted to 
the welfare of the country ; but Vaudreuil seems for the 
most part to have served it like a patriot. Throughout the 
twenty-two years of his administration^ he had ever in view 
the promotion of the fur trade, the extension of French 
influence on the Lakes. His master-stroke in these efforts 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 77 

was to be the establishment of Fort Niagara, regarding 
which Louis XV. had written to him with his own hand : 
"The post of Niagara is of the greatest importance, to pre- 
serve the trade with the tipper countries." The King no 
doubt had derived his impressions from Vaudreuil's repre- 
sentations, but none the less, royal sanction was useful. 
Now, on the eve of achievement, his hand is withdrawn and 
another is to take up the work. 

Louis XV. selected as the successor of Vaudreuil. 
Charles, Marquis de Beauharnois, a natural son of Louis 
XIV. He had been an office-holder in Canada a score of 
years prior to this date, having in 1702 succeeded M. de 
Champigny as Intendant. In 1705 he was appointed "Di- 
rector of the Marine Classes" in France, but he was captain 
of a man-of-war when, Jan. 11, 1726, Louis XV. commis- 
sioned him to be Governor of Canada, an office which he 
was to administer until 1747, thus becoming a factor of no 
little consequence in the particular history that we are 
tracing. In the interim between Vaudreuil's death and the 
arrival of Beauharnois, that is, until Sept. 2, 1726, the first 
Baron de Longueuil was the chief executor for Canada. He 
solicited the governorship, but was without influence ; the 
Court, it is said, was advised not to appoint a native Cana- 
dian. But the post which was denied him was, later on, to 
be filled by his son. 

Chabert de Joncaire of the trading-house at the portage 
is spoken of at this period as the comm^ander at Niagara^^ ; 
it is not plain, however, that he was in command of troops 
at the new fort. In July, 1726, the son of the lieutenant 
governor of Montreal was sent with a small body of men 
to garrison the fort and complete the works. This man, 
with whom begins a succession of commandants of Fort 
Niagara which continues to the present day, was Charles Le 
Moyne the second — Le Moyne, it will be borne in mind, 
being the family name of the Baron de Longueuil. The first 
of that title was now a veteran of seventy years. The new- 
commandant, too, had seen many years of service for the 



41. N. Y. Col. Docs., IX, 979. 



78 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

King in America, and had been on the Niagara before this 
time. As early as 1716 he had made a campaign beyond 
Detroit, into the IlHnois country, and had been reported as 
killed. We have noted his great influence with the Indians ; 
but the few glimpses afforded of him in the official docu- 
ments give little idea of his personality, save in one respect : 
he was, at a somewhat later period than we are now con- 
sidering, very corpulent, so that, in the language of the 
chronicle, he was "illy adapted for travel." He was forty 
years old when he came to command the new fort on the 
Niagara. Three years later he was to succeed, on the death 
of his father, to the title and estate of baron. 

It should not be overlooked that this new establishment, 
which marked a new advance of France and was a new ex- 
pression of that power, short-lived though it was to be, in 
the Lake region and Mississippi Valley, identifies with the 
story of the Niagara a scion of the greatest Canadian family 
of its period, and, in certain aspects, one of the most im- 
portant and influential families concerned in making the 
history of America. Charles Le Moyne the immigrant, son 
of a tavernkeeper of Dieppe, played his part in the New 
World as pioneer, interpreter, and trader, marvelously pros- 
perous for his day and opportunities. But the family fame 
begins with his many sons, several of whom appear on the 
pages of seventeenth and eighteenth century history by the 
surnames drawn from their seigneurial rights and estates. 
One of these sons, Charles, was that first Baron de Longueuil 
whom we have seen as a major in La Bar re's expedition; 
campaigning with Denonville against the Senecas ; helping 
in the establishment of the ill-fated fort on the Niagara 
which was built in 1687, and subsequently serving his King 
in many capacities, not least important of which was that as 
negotiator with the Iroquois, thus paving the way for the 
erection of the new Fort Niagara. These were incidents in 
his later years while serving as lieutenant governor of 
Montreal. In his more youthful days, and while his numer- 
ous younger brothers were still children, he had served in 
France; as one appreciative student has admirably summed 



THH STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 79 

it up — "had, with his Indian attendant, figured at Court as 
related hy the Duchess of Orleans in one of her letters to 
her sister, the Countess Palatine Louise ; had married the 
daughter of a nobleman, a lady in waiting to her Royal 
Highness of Orleans ; and had built that great fortress- 
chateau of Longueuil, the marvel of stateliness and elegance 
of the day for all Canada ; and had obtained his patent of 
nobility and title of Baron."*- Of his brothers, six — 
Iberville, Saint Helene, Maricourt, Serigny, Bienville, 
Chateauguay — have written their names on the continent 
from Hudson's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, none more 
largely or lastingly than Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, who as 
Bienville is known as the Father of Louisiana. And of his 
sons, Charles Le Moyne the second, born in 1687, was the 
captain, the chevalier and (on the death of his father) the 
second Baron de Longueuil ; the adopted son of the Onon- 
dagas, the comrade and friend of Joncaire, and the first 
commandant of the new Fort Niagara. 

A glimpse of the fort, during this interesting period of 
construction, is afforded by a letter written by the younger 
Longueuil to his father the baron. It is dated "Niagara, 
5th September, 1726," and runs in part as follows: 

There are no more English at Oswego or at the little fall. The 
last canoe which has gone to winter had to go on to Albany to find 
brandy, and they assure me that there is not one in the whole length 
of the lake or the river. This is the third canoe that has told me 
the same thing. If I meet any in the lake or going down, I will 
have them pillaged. 

It will be October before I can leave here, and I do not know 
when we shall have finished. Sickness has constantly increased. 
We have now more than thirty men attacked by fever, and I find 
that our soldiers resist better than our workmen. If they could 
work, we should not have enough of them to put the house in state 
of security this month. It would certainly have been finished this 
year, but for the sickness. I mean the stonework, for M. de Lery 
having sent away the sawyers, we have not enough planks to half 
cover it. The master-carpenter is sick and has done nothing for 
fifteen days. We shall cover what we can, and then close the gable 



^2. Grace King's "New Orleans," p. 15. 



80 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

with the joist of the scaffolding. ("'... bouchera le pignon 
avec les madricrs d'echafaudage.") If they (the gables) are not 
entirely enclosed, they will at any rate be protected by the walls all 
around. 

He adds that as soon as possible, he shall send back the 
married men, who are good-for-nothing weepers (les 
pleiireux qui ne valcnt rieii"), no doubt a true-enough char- 
acterization of the home-loving habitant, who in the savage- 
infested wilderness of the Niagara found himself homesick 
even to tearfulness. 

Among the French officers at Niagara in the summ.er of 
1726 was Pierre Jacques Payen, Captain de Noyan; who 
wrote, probably in the fall of that year,*^ to the Marquis de 
Beauharnois, as follows : 

"As I believe, monsieur, that you have not recently been 
informed regarding the establishment at Niagara, I crave 
the honor of telling you as to the condition of the house 
when I left there, and such news as I learned on my way. 

"I set out from Niagara the 8th of this month. The 
works would have been finished by this time, had not fre- 
quent rains and the violent fevers which attacked nearly all 
our workmen, long delayed their completion. 

"There remained yet twelve or fifteen days' work of 
masonry to do, and there is reason to fear that the timber 
framework is not yet ready to put up. Whatever diligence 
M. de Longueuil may have been able to use, he could not 
procure planks enough to cover it." 

The letter continues with a graphic account of negotia- 
tions between the English and the Iroquois, as it was re- 
ported to Capt. de Noyan at Fort Frontenac. It is but an- 
other version of the unsuccessful negotiations of Peter 
Schuyler — this time disguised in the old French as "Joan 



43. The copy of M. de Noyan's letter which I have followed in the 
Archives office at Ottawa, bears date Feb. 22, 1726. The original obviously 
was written some months later than that, probably in September. The old 
form of indicating September — "7bre" — may very likely have been misread by 
a copyist. September 22d also accords with the date of a report by de Noyan, 
given in an abstract of despatches relating to Niagara, N. Y. Col. Docs., IX, 
978. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 81 

Sckuila." "'You know," Schuyler is reported to have ha- 
rangued to the tribes, "you know that the French are build- 
ing- a fort at Niagara in order to reduce you to slavery — 
and you are resting with your arms crossed. What are you 
thinking of? We are all dead, brothers, you and I, if we do 
not prevent our loss by the destruction of this building. 
Look at these barques, which will carry you off captive. It 
is for you to say whether they have been built by your con- 
sent." And after listening to more in like strain, the Indians 
returned Schuyler's wampum belt, and replied with cool 
sarcasm that he always said the same thing to them. "Yes," 
they added, "it is we who have desired these boats, we con- 
sented to what our son [M. de Longueuil] asked of us, we 
repent of nothing. . . . It is a thing done. We have 
given our word." 

It was at this council that Schuyler asked the consent of 
the Five Nations for the English to build a trading-house 
opposite the French post ["bdtir aiissi a Niagara line rnaison 
vis-a-vis ccllc dc voire Pcre"] ; but to this proposition they 
returned the wampum, saying they would have nothing to 
do with it, and Schuyler could arrange as best he might with 
"Onontio." There is a triumphant tone in Capt. de Noyan's 
letter, reporting this defeat of the English at so critical a 
tim.e. English enmity now centered on Joncaire, who was 
regarded as the chief instrument of their discomfiture. It 
was reported that certain Seneca chiefs were bribed to make 
way with him. One of the few letters written by Joncaire 
which are preserved, was written at the end of 1726, at 
Fort Niagara, apparently to his friend the younger Lon- 
gueuil, then commanding at Fort Frontenac. It runs in 
part as follows : 

Niagara, 26 December, 1726. 
I am obliged to you for the notice which you gave me by your 
letter of December 28th, concerning the council which was held 
between the Iroquois nations and the governors of Boston and New 
York. 

Tagariuoghen, chief of the Sault Ste. Louis, and one named 
Alexis, chief of the Lake of the Two Mountains, have just acknowl- 
edged to us the design of the English, and the promises which 



82 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

the Iroquois made to them, concerning the house at Niagara, and 
me. I learned the same thing toward the end of November at the 
Seneca village where I had gone, after giving the necessary orders 
for the Niagara garrison, to reply to a belt which the Iroquois had 
send to the Governor at Montreal. 

I found in this village only coldness towards us and any good 
words which I could say to them were scarcely listened to. The next 
night, toward midnight, they wakened me for a council; and being 
come there, they begged me to treat peaceably with them, that 
there was no need of heat on the part of any of us. 

First, they said, the house at Niagara did not please them ; that 
they strongly suspected that it was only the Onondagas who con- 
sented to its construction, and that the four other nations had no 
part in it. 

Second, that M. de Longueuil had promised to make a present 
of three barrels of powder and a proportion of balls to each nation, 
but they had seen nothing of all that. 

They held out to me a belt for these things, but I would not 
touch it, and contented myself with telling them that their belt 
was a rattlesnake which would bite ine if I took it in my hand, and 
that moreover their father Onontio had sent me to Niagara to listen 
to good words and not to bad. 

As to the house in question, it was the strongest pillar of the five 
Iroquois nations, since M. de Longueuil had intended in making 
it to deliver them from the slavery in which they had for a long 
time been. But [I said], as I saw that I was speaking to deaf men, 
I told them . that they might make their speeches to people who 
knew how to answer. The Iroquois replied : 

"We hear you. You say that we should address Onontio. That 
was indeed our first thought, for our resolution is made for next 
spring." 

The next day I noised it about that I saw clearly that their minds 
were divided, but that I hoped that they would find for us, as much 
as for the English ,and that it was useless for them to talk to me 
of abandoning the building ("de vider le plancher"), they could 
be assured that I should not quit Niagara until they had cut my body 
to pieces to give pleasure to the English — and that even then they 
would have to deal with people who would come to look after my 
bones. I have still a trick ("un plat de mon metier") to show them 
in the spring — I put it aside till then, since my emissaries are not at 
the village, and whether it succeeds or not I shall promptly send 
my two oldest sons to Montreal to inform my superiors of the state 
of affairs in this country. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 83 

One must restrain the Iroquois [?Senecas] in every way in this 
present affair, but it is necessary to interpose the Onondagas, and 
say to the Iroquois nations : Since when do you make no longer 
one body with the Onondagas? You have told us every year that 
what one Iroquois nation does or says, all the others agree to. Since 
when is all that changed? How comes it that when the English 
ask you which nation it was that gave permission to the French to 
build at Niagara, that in the presence of you all the Onondaga 
replied fiercely, "It was I." How happens it that you did not dis- 
pute this before the English? 

After all, I hope that the Holy Spirit which commonly gives to 
those who govern the State more light than to others, will furnish 
enough means to our superiors to confound the Iroquois and so 
reestablish peace. 

As for me, trust to my looking out for myself against the assas- 
sination which the English have at all times wished to accomplish. 
Whoever undertakes it will have half the risk. I will serve him 
as they do in Valenciennes. 

I beg you to communicate what I send you to Messieurs de 
Beauharnois, Intendant, and to our Governor at Montreal, and 
above all to so inform M. de Longueuil that he will be assured of 
the care which I take in the present affair. 

A little later Joncaire wrote again to the younger cle 
Longueuil at Fort Frontenac: 

"... Inform our superiors of what has happened 
to me in this country. It is for them to direct what I should 
say and do. The Iroquois will go down to Montreal next 
spring to demand that we pull down the house at Niagara. 
If they destroy it," adds Joncaire wath a fine touch of the 
Gascon, "it will only be when I, at the head of my garrison, 
shall "have crossed in Charon's barque — I shall show them 
the road to victory or to the tomb." Nevertheless, he adds 
the fervent hope : "May God change the hearts of those who 
are against us." 

It was not until the end of another season — Oct. 17, 
1727 — that Chaussegros de Lery reported to the Alinister 
that the house at Niagara was entirely finished, surrounded 
with palisades and furnished with a guard-house to prevent 
surprise by the savages. Referring to the English at 
Oswego, he could not refrain from calling attention to the 
fact that events had justified his choice of site for Fort 



84 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Niagara: "The English are estabhshed at the mouth of 
Oswego river, they have built a little fortified work {"petite 
redoubt a machicoulis"] and keep a garrison there. The 
French have always been masters of this post and of the 
south side of Lake Ontario. If they had built the stone 
house as proposed at the portage, it is certain that the 
English would have made another on Lake Ontario. This 
house at the portage appears to me useless. The old one, 
with some small repairs, will serve yet som.e years." He 
adds that if he "had been the master" the last year it would 
have been easy for him to establish the French at Oswego 
as well as at Niagara ; evidently forgetting for the moment 
that he had not established the French an37where, however 
satisfactory from an engineering point of view his services 
on the Niagara had proved. Our study of the documents 
makes clear that Fort Niagara was made possible, under 
the encouraging policy of Vaudreuil, only by the devotion 
and personal influence of the younger de Longueuil and 
Chabert de Joncaire. 

X. Political Aspect of the Strife on the Niagara. 

What may be termed the political situation in the country 
of the Six Nations, and especially among the Senecas who 
kept the Western Door of the Long Flouse, in the years from 
the building of Joncaire's house at Lewiston to the construc- 
tion and garrisoning of Fort Niagara, 1720-26, admirably 
illustrates the difficulty of treating with the Indian. Even 
the noble Iroquois was fickle, given to double-dealing; yet 
it was a duplicity inherent in a lower degree of social 
development than that from which his Caucasian tempters 
approached him. The wisest of their sachems were states- 
men in some matters, children in others. The Senecas 
adopted Joncaire according to their ancient custom, and 
through him gave the French their foothold on the Niagara. 
At the same time, tempted by the trade inducements of the 
English, they helped the Western tribes to go to Albany, to 
the confusion of the French, and allowed the English to get 
and to keep a footing in, their own territory. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 85 

So matters continued until Longueuil, by his coup de 
maitre of 1725, gained permission in a council at Onondaga 
to build what soon proved to be a fort, in Seneca territory. 
We have already traced the steps of that construction, as 
recorded in the reports of the French. When Burnet heard 
of it, as he speedily did, down in New York, he may well 
have wondered what all his fair speeches to- the Indians had 
accomplished, what all the tiresome councils had amounted 
to, of what avail the many lavish gifts. 

At the September council at Albany in 1726 he took the 
tribes to task. How is it, he demanded, have you given 
your consent to the French, to build this house at Niagara ? 
The answer was characteristic, but far from satisfactory. 
One Ajewachtha, an Onondaga sachem, was the mouthpiece 
for the occasion. When Longueuil was among the Onon- 
dagas last year, said the sachem, the Senecas heard what 
his errand was, and "sent a Belt of Wampum, . . . that 
in case the French should desire to make any Building or 
Settlement at Niagara or at Ochsweeke** or elsewhere on 
land, they should not give their consent to it. . . . The 
Onondagas being prevail'd upon by Fair speeches and 
promises, rejected the Sinnekes belt, and gave the French 
leave for building at Niagara." De Longueuil, the sachem 
added, had promised that the French would protect them 
for three hundred years. 

Did the land at Niagara, asked Governor Burnet, belong 
to the Onondagas, or to the Senecas, or to all the Six 
Nations ? 

The Seneca sachem, Kanaharighton, replied that it be- 
longed to the Senecas particularly. 

Do the sachems of the other Five Nations acknowledge 
that? 

They all said it did ; not only the land at Niagara 
belonged to the Senecas, but the land opposite it, on the 
other side of Lake Ontario. 



44. "Called by the French Lac Eric." — Marginal note in New York Coun- 
cil Minutes, XV, 87. 



86 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

What business then, asked Burnet, had the Onondagas 
to grant the French permission to build there, when the 
land belonged only to the Senecas ? 

"The Onondagas say it is true they have done wrong, 
they might better have left it alone and have left it to the 
Sinnekes whose Land it is, they repent of it and say that 
People often do what they afterwards repent of." 

The Onondaga further explained that the consent which 
had been given by his people, without leave of the other 
nations, was in accordance with their old customs ; one 
nation often spoke in the name of all the rest in the League. 
If the others afterwards approved of it, it was well; if any 
of them disapproved, the pledge was void. The Six Nations 
had sent Seneca and Onondaga sachems with a belt of wam- 
pum to the French at Fort Niagara, to protest against the 
proceedings and ordering the work to stop. But the French 
had not the red man's regard for the talking belts. We can 
not stop work, they said, with what show of gravity and 
regret may be imagined; "being sent and order'd by the 
Governour of Canada to build it," they "durst not desist 
from working." But they readily promised that Joncaire, 
Avho was soon going to Montreal, should inform the Gov- 
ernor that the Six Nations wished the work stopped; "he 
would bring back an Answer at Onondaga by the latter 
end of September (when the Indian corn was ripe), and 
then they threw their Belt back and rejected it by which 
they had spoke, and said they thought they were sent by 
the Govr of New York, on which they [the sachems] 
replyed that they were not sent by him, but by the Sachims 
of the Six Nations, and did not know who had given the 
French that liberty, that they did not know it, and desired 
that they would name the Sachims who had given their 
leave, on which they [the French] did not reply, but said 
that when the House was finished 30 souldiers would be 
posted there with Officers and a Priest." 

This and much more the Indians told Governor Burnet. 
In the same breath, the Onondagas took all the blame to 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 87 

themselves, and charged the French with perfidy. The Gov- 
ernor adroitly explained to them that France and England 
were at peace, and gave them to understand that it was not 
the English, but the Six Nations, whose interests were 
threatened by the new fort at the mouth of the Niagara. 
He read to them that portion of the Treaty of Utrecht which 
bore on the matter. The chief question, he gravely pointed 
out. was, whether the fort was prejudicial to them in their 
hunting, or to the Western Indians who might wish to 
come for trade. If they said it was not, His Excellency 
had nothing to say, and the French had done well ; but if 
the Six Nations found it prejudicial to their interests, and 
complained of it to him, he would lay the matter before the 
English King. The Indians replied : 

"Brother Corlaer, . . . you ask if we approve of the 
building at Niagara; we do not only complain against the 
proceedings of the French in fortifying Niagara on our 
Land contrary to our inclination and without our consent, 
to pen us up from our chief hunting-place, but we also hum- 
bly beg and desire that Your Excell : will be pleased to write 
to His Majesty King George that he may have compassion 
on us, and write to the King of France to order his Gover- 
nour of Canada to remove the building at Niagara, for we 
think it very prejudicial to us all." And this the Governor 
agreed to do. 

Nothing could be finer than the temper and adroitness 
with which Burnet conducted this matter. At the opening 
of the conference his attitude was that of accuser, of one 
deeply wronged ; the attitude of the Indians that of culprits 
and deceivers. This aspect of their relations was quickly 
annulled by the calm, judicial air which the Governor gave 
to his inquiries. With rare insight into Indian character, 
he so presented the case that they became the wronged par- 
ties, the French the sole offenders, and himself merely the 
gracious friend who sought to do all he could in their 
behalf. 

This conference was held on September 7th. Two days 
later, the Governor made a long, impressive speech to the 



88 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

sachems. He reviewed the relations of the Five Nations 
to the French from the earUest days, not faihng to show 
that the latter had been constant aggressors and treacherous 
enemies, and he pictured the building of the fort at Niagara 
as a new affront, which endangered the ven,- existence of 
the Confederacy. His words had their intended effect. The 
sachem.s renewed their protestations, in terms of singular 
earnestness. ''We speak now," said Kanackarighton, the 
Seneca, "in the name of all the Six Nations and come to you 
howling. This is the reason for what we howl, that the 
Governor of Canada incroaches on our land and builds 
thereon, therefore do we come to Your Excellency, our 
Brother Corlaer, and desire you will be pleased to write to 
the great King, Your Master, and if Our King will then 
be pleased to write to the King of France, that the Six 
Nations desire that the Fort at Niagara may be demolished. 
This Belt we give to you. Our Brother [Corlaer], as a token 
that you be not negligent to write to the King, the sooner 
the better, and desire that the letter may be writ very 
pressing." 

Not the least gratifying point to the Governor in this 
harangue was the expression "our King." The treaty com- 
missioners at Utrecht, thirteen years before, had agreed that 
the New York Indians were subjects of Great Britain; but 
the Indians themselves were sometimes provokingly oblivi- 
ous of the relationship. 

Governor Burnet took advantage of the complaisant and 
suppliant mood of the sachems to suggest that, since they 
were asking the King of Great Britain to protect them in 
their own lands, it would be most proper "to submit and 
give up all their hunting Country to the King, and to sign 
a deed for it," as it had been proposed to do twenty-five 
years before. He intimated that had it been done then, they 
would have had a fuller measure of protection from the 
English. After consultations, the proposition was accepted, 
and the deed of trust, which had been executed July 19, 
1701, vv^as confirmed and signed by Seneca, Cayuga and 
Onondaga sachems. Thus at Albany, Sept. 14, 1726, in 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 8'J 

the thirteenth year of George I, was deeded to the EngHsh, 
a sixty-mile strip along the south shore of Lake Ontario, 
reaching to and including the entire Niagara frontier. 

The mighty League of the Iroquois had atoned for their 
blunder of letting the French build Fort Niagara in their 
domain, by giving it to King George. From this time on 
the "stone house" was on British soil ; but it was yet to take 
the new owner a generation to dispossess the obnoxious 
tenant. 

The fifteenth Article of the Treaty of Utrecht is as 
follows : 

"The subjects of France inhabiting Canada, and others, 
shall in future give no hindrance or molestation to the Five 
Nations or Cantons of Indians, subject to the Dominion of 
Great Britain, nor to the other natives of America who are 
in friendly alliance with them. In like manner, the subjects 
of Great Britain shall behave themselves peaceably towards 
the Americans who are subjects or friends of France, and 
they shall enjoy, on both sides, full liberty of resort for 
purposes of Trade. Also the natives of these countries shall, 
wath equal freedom, resort, as they please, to the British 
and French Colonies, for promoting trade on one side and 
the other, without any molestation or hindrance on the part 
either of British or French subjects; but who are, and who 
ought to be, accounted subjects and friends of Britain or of 
France is a matter to be accurately and distinctly settled by 
Commissioners." 

This was assented to by the representatives of England 
and of France, who signed the treaty of which it is a part, 
at Utrecht, April ii. 1713. In due time it was promulgated 
in the Colonies. England in the valley of the Mohawk, and 
France on the Great Lakes, were at work, with such seduc- 
tive influences as they could exert, for the friendship of the 
savages and a greater profit from the fur trade. It was not, 
however, until Joncaire's cabin stood at the foot of the Niag- 
ara rapids, that the English took genuine alarm at what 
they regarded as the impudent encroachment of the French, 
and fell back upon the terms of the treaty for a definition of 
rights. 



90 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

We have seen (pp. 129) that in 1721 Governor Burnet 
made a spirited protest against the establishment of Jon- 
caire's trading house, of which Vaudreuil had made an 
equally spirited, but not equally logical, defense. Protests 
of this sort being so obviously of no avail, correspondence 
on the subject between the Governors seems to have ceased. 
But when word reached Burnet of the new fort at the mouth 
of the river his ire was kindled afresh. On July 5, 1726, 
he wrote to M. de Longueuil, then acting Governor, pend- 
ing the arrival of Beauharnois, a vigorous, but by no means 
offensive letter on the subject. He had learned, he wrote, 
that about a hundred Frenchmen were at Niagara, com- 
mencing the erection of a fort, "with the design of shutting 
in the Five Nations, and preventing the free passage of the 
other Indians at that point to trade with us as they have 
been in the habit of doing.'' He expressed his surprise that 
the French should undertake a project so obviously an 
infraction of the Treaty of Utrecht; denied that La Salle's 
brief occupancy of the region gave the French any rights, 
and reminded the Governor that the lands at Niagara 
belonged to the Five Nations. "Should the fortifying Niag- 
ara be continued," he added in conclusion, "I shall be under 
the necessity of representing the matter to my Superiors, 
in order that the Court of France, being well informed of 
the fact, may give its opinion thereupon ; as I have heard 
that it has already expressed its disapprobation of the part 
Mr. de Vaudreuil took in the War of the Abenaquis against 
New England." 

Burnet sent his friend Philip Livingston, of the Colonial 
Council, to Montreal with this letter, and begged of M. de 
Longueuil considerate treatment of the messenger. The 
messenger was well enough received, but the reply which 
the Canadian soldier sent back, under date of August i6th, 
was far from apologetic. "Permit me. Sir, to inform you," 
it ran, "that it is not my intention to shut in the Five Iro- 
quois Nations, as you pretend, and that I do not think I 
contravene the Utrecht Treaty of Peace in executing my 
orders from the Court of France, respecting the reestablish- 



THE STORY OF JON C AIRE. 91 

ment of the Niagara post, whereof we have been the mas- 
ters from all time. The Five Nations, who are neither your 
subjects nor ours, ought to be much obliged to you to take 
upon you an uneasiness they never felt, inasmuch as, so far 
from considering that the establishment at Niagara may 
prove a source of trouble to them, they were parties to it 
by a unanimous consent, and have again confirmed it in the 
last Council holden at Niagara, on the 14th of July last." 

De Longueuil, it will be observed, squarely contradicted 
the clause in the treaty which declared the Five Nations to 
be "subject to the dominion of Great Britain." His audac- 
ity was symbolical of the entire policy of France on the 
wilderness frontiers at this period. This feature of Baron 
de Longueuil's reply may well have surprised the English 
Governor. It would, no doubt, have surprised him still 
more had Longueuil meekly yielded to his demands, and 
promised to leave the Niagara. It was to be expected that 
he would base the French claim on the flimsy pretext of 
continuous right from La Salle's day ; but that, in addition 
to this claim, he should have the effrontery to deny and 
defy the plain declaration of the treaty, was matter for 
amazement. 

As we have seen, at the Albany conferences with the 
Indians, in September, Burnet had promised to lay the case 
— their case, as he made it appear to them — before the King. 
With his unfruitful correspondence with Longueuil fresh 
in mind he was more than willing to do so. Before the 
close of the year — presumably by the first ship that served, 
which happened to be the Old Beaver, Mathew Smith, mas- 
ter, — he despatched long letters on the subject, both to the 
Lords of Trade and to the Duke of Newcastle, King 
George's Secretary of State. For the edification of the for- 
mer, he rehearsed at length all that had taken place ; told 
of the action taken at the conferences with the Indians ; 
exulted a little, as was natural, in announcing that they had 
signed a deed surrendering the land they lived in to the 
British Crown ; and enclosed a copy of the deed with this 
explanation of the fact that it was signed by only three of 



92 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

the nations: "The Maquese [Mohawks] and Oneydes Hve 
nearest to us, and do not reach to the French lake, and there- 
fore there was no occasion to mention the matter to them, 
and if I had proposed it pubHckly to them, it might soon 
have been known by the French, and have produced some 
new enterprize of theirs, so that I thought it best to do it 
with a few of the cheif and most trusty of the three nations 
who border upon the lakes." 

He sent to the Lords copies of his correspondence with 
Longueuil, and called especial attention to that officer's 
denial of the Treaty. "The Treaty says," wrote Burnet, 
" 'The Hve Nations or Cantons of Indians, subject to the 
Domimon of Great Britain.' Mr. De Longueuil denys it 
expressly and says, 'Les cinq Nations qui ne sont ny vos 
Sujcts ny les Notres.' The Five Nations who are neither 
your Subjects nor ours." He pointed out the other aggra- 
vating and inconsistent features of Longueuil's letter. 

To His Grace the Duke the Governor made a more con- 
cise but equally strenuous report, adding his "most earnest 
application" that Newcastle would "obtain His Majesty's 
directions, that strong instances may be made at the Court 
of France for this purpose, which I hope will be successful 
at a time when there is so firm an alliance between the two 
Crowns. . . . This is a matter of such consequence to 
His Majesty's Dominions in North America that I humbly 
rely on Your Grace's obtaining such a redress, as the Treaty 
entitles this Province and the Six Nations to, from the 
French, which can be [no] less than a demolition of this 
fort at Niagara."*" 

The Duke of Newcastle put the whole matter into the 
hands of Horatio Walpole, with instructions from King 
George that he should present it "in its full light" to the 
Ministers of the Court of France, "and to use all the neces- 
sary arguments to prevail on them to dispatch orders to the 
ofHcer commanding in Canada to demolish that fort, and 
His Majesty doubts not but they will comply as soon as they 



45. Burnet to the Duke of Newcastle, N. Y., Dec. 4, 1726. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. U3 

shall be informed precisely of the state of this affair."'"^ 
Walpole prepared a memoir on Fort Niagara which he 
submitted, May 9, 1727, to the aged Cardinal de Fleury, 
Prime Minister of France. ■*'' In it he rehearsed at length the 
grievances which Burnet had communicated. Beyond the 
employment of a more poHshed style, Walpole's memoir on 
Niagara added nothing to the facts or the arguments as we 
have already reviewed them. At the end of his recital of 
facts, Walpole added the following : 

"It is to be remarked, that the Nations in question are 
formally acknowledged, by the Treaty of Utrecht, to be 
subject to and under Great Britain, and in virtue of the 
same Treaty they and all the Indians are to enjoy full lib- 
erty of coming and going for the purpose of trade, without 
molestation or hindrance. Now, the pass at Niagara is that 
by which the Far Indians are able to repair to the country of 
the Five Nations, and also the only one by which the Five 
Nations themselves can go into their own territory to hunt ; 
and in spite of the benevolent and innocent views Sieur de 
Longueuil pretends to entertain in building such a fort, the 
Indians cannot be reputed to enjoy free trade and passage 
so long as they are bridled by a fort built on their own terri- 
tory, against their will, and which absolutely subjects them 
to the pleasure of the French, wherefore they have recourse 
to their Sovereign and King, the King of Great Britain, who 
cannot refuse to interest himself strongly, as well on account 
of these subjects as for the maintenance of Treaties." 

In this smooth, featureless form, the innocuous phrases 
of a somewhat perfunctory diplomacy, Louis XV. received 
the English protest against the building of Fort Niagara — 
that protest for which the Iroquois' sachems had gone to 
Albany "howling," and which they had begged should be 
"writ very pressing." Kanackarighton, the daubed and 



46. Duke of Newcastle to the Hon. Horatio W^alpole, Whitehall, April 
II, 1727. 

47. DeFleury, formerly preceptor to the King, in 1726 succeeded the 
Duke de Bourbon Conde as Prime Minister of France, being then seventy- 
three years old. He lived until January, 1743. 



94 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

greasy Seneca, and Horatio Walpole, the courtier, were vast- 
ly farther apart than even the Court of France and the Niag- 
ara wilderness — of which it is plain Walpole's ideas were of 
the vaguest. Many a forest ranger would have laughed at 
his claim that the fort at the mouth of the Niagara kept the 
Senecas from their hunting grounds. The germ of this 
specious plea lay in Burnet's benevolent suggestion to the 
Senecas, but it helped make a case against the French, and 
there were few either at Whitehall or the Court of Louis 
competent to criticise or likely to question it. Indeed, had 
the red Indians themselves made their "howl" before the 
French King and his ministers, the result, beyond the in- 
finite diversion which they would have made, would scarcely 
have been different. Even while the English protest was 
taking its official course, Louis and his ministers were 
affirming that "the post at Niagara is of the utmost import- 
ance for the preservation to the French of the trade to the 
upper country," and were considering the amounts to be 
spent on "the reconstruction of the old house at Niagara 
[Joncaire's Magazin Royal], the expense whereof, amount- 
ing to 20,430 li., may be placed on the estimate of the ex- 
penses payable in 1728 by the Domain of the West."*^ 

King George I. died June 11, 1727; and, in Canada, in 
1726, the Marquis de Beauharnois had succeeded the Baron 
de Longueuil ; but the Niagara contention continued. Bur- 
net in the spring of 1727 having built and fortified a stone 
house at Oswego, the new Governor of Canada at once as- 
sumed the aggressive ; sent a formal summons to Burnet to 
withdraw his garrison thence within a fortnight, and "to 
cast down the block house and all pieces of work you raised 
up contrary to righteousness," "or else His Lordship the 
Marquis of Beauharnois will take measures against you and 
against your unjust usurpation as he will think fit." With a 
fine solicitude for a rigid adherence to the Treaty of 1713, 
the humor of which must even then have shown itself to 
Burnet, if not to Beauharnois, the French Governor accused 



48. Abstract of Despatches relating to Oswego and Niagara, N. Y. Col. 
Docs., IX, 979. The remark quoted above, on Niagara's importance, is a note 
by the King himself. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 95 

the English Governor of "a plain contravention to the 
Treaty of Utrecht, which mentions that the subjects of the 
two Crowns shall not intrench upon one another's land, till 
the decision of the limits by the judges delegated to that 
end" — a decision which was never made, for the commis- 
sioners contemplated by the 15th article of the Treaty were 
never appointed. The English contention, as afterwards 
formulated by Walpole in his memoir on Fort Oswego, was 
that their fortification at that point was no violation of the 
Treaty, "since the Commissioners to be named would have 
nothing to determine relative to the countries of the Five 
Nations, who are already declared by the Treaty of Utrecht 
to be subjects to the Crown of England." This was a per- 
fectly just deduction from the obvious intent of the treaty. 

Burnet replied to the arrogant demand of Beauharnois 
with his usual spirit and good sense; reminding him that 
when he (Burnet) had protested against the operations of 
the French at Niagara, he had been content with writing to 
Court, for the English Ambassador to make dignified and 
decorous presentation at the Court of France : 'T did not 
send any summons to Niagara, T did not make any warlike 
preparations to interrupt the work, and I did not stir up the 
Five Nations to make use of force to demolish it, which I 
might have done easily enough." In a long letter, he de- 
fended his right, under the treaty, to build at Oswego, and 
denied again the right of the French to occupy Niagara : 
"It is true, sir, that I have ordered a stone house to be built 
there [at the mouth of the Oswego], with some contriv- 
ances to hinder its being surprised, and that I have posted 
some souldiers in it, but that which gave me the first thought 
of it, was the fortified and much larger house which the 
French have built at Niagara, upon the lands of the Five 
Nations." 

In due time report of this correspondence reached the 
Lord Commissioners of Trade. Under date of Dec. 21, 
1727, they referred it all once more to Newcastle ; and His 
Grace in turn placed it in the hands of Horatio Walpole. 
Recalling the memoir on the subject of Fort Niagara which 
Walpole had made the year before, Newcastle wrote to him : 



96 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

''Both that Memoir and his Eminence's answer to you, 
promising to give orders to examine this matter, and to de- 
cide according to justice, led us to expect that there would 
not be any more cause for complaint, but as, instead of see- 
ing it remedied. His Majesty has been advised that the 
French think of encroaching still further on the countries 
under his obedience in said quarter, he has deemed it ex- 
pedient that you again apply to the Court of France to in- 
duce it to transmit the most precise orders to the Governor 
of Canada to abstain from attempting anything contrary to 
the Treaties, so that all these differences between the sub- 
jects of the two Crowns may be terminated in such a man- 
ner that the Indians may visit each other without molesta- 
tion, and the Five Nations receive such encouragement and 
protection from His Majesty as they must naturally expect 
from their Sovereign."*^ 

The result of these instructions was Walpole's memoir on 
Oswego, laid before the French Prime Minister, March 9, 
1728. 

The 15th article of the Utrecht Treaty continued a fruit- 
ful source of disagreement for many years to come. In 
1748 we find Gov. Clinton of New York carrying on an 
epistolary dispute with La Galissoniere, who had succeeded 
de Beauharnois, over this same debatable article. The 
French Governor had his own interpretation of it, alleging 
that it "does not name the Iroquois, and though it did so, it 
would be null in their regard, since they never acquiesced 
therein : we have always regarded them as AlHes in common 
of the English and French, and they do not look on them- 
selves in any other light." "You are misinformed," replied 
Clinton, "for they have done it [i. e. submitted themselves to 
Great Britain] in a solemn manner, and their subjection has 
been likewise acknowledged by the Crown of France in the 
Treaty of Utrecht."^*' This disparity of view between the 
two countries continued as long as France held Canada. 



49. Newcastle to Walpole. The letter as printed in N. Y. Col. Docs., 
IX, 959, is dated "Whitehall, i6th May (O. S.), 1726," but the year should 
be 1728. 

50. Clinton to La Galissoniere, Fort George in New York, Oct. lo, 1748. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 97 

XL Fort Niagaka and the Fur Trade. 

For a decade and more following the building of the new 
fort, Joncaire the elder continued active in matters relating 
to the history of the Niagara. He was not military com- 
mandant, except apparently for a short period ; nor was he 
in charge of barter with the Indians at that post. Coming 
and going, now at the Seneca villages, now at Niagara, or 
again at his home in Montreal, he continued' in the military 
service, but always charged with the special duty, which 
accorded well w'ith his frequent service of interpreter, of 
cultivating cordial relations with the Senecas, and of report- 
ing on the movements of the English — duties in which later 
on his eldest son is to succeed him, when the father is 
assigned to a new field of activity. 

From the day when Chaussegros de Lery broke ground 
for the great stone building at the angle of lake and river, 
life on the Niagara became more and more complex. The 
building operations drew thither hordes of curious and jeal- 
ous Indians. The trading-post at present Lewiston was still 
maintained, and in its neighborhood, at the foot of the port- 
age, as well as at the head of the long carry, were settle- 
ments of the Senecas, many of whom found profitable 
employment in helping traders and travelers up and down 
the steep hills. Although the Mississaugas had not yet made 
their village across the Niagara from the new fort, they 
made temporary camp there and haunted the region in num- 
bers during this busy summer. However deserted and deso- 
late these lake and river shores may have been when winter 
shut down, and the wolf's long howl at the edge of the forest 
answered the west wind in its sweep over the bleak lake, 
there was varied life and activity when the ice broke up. 
Then came endless flotillas of bark canoes, loaded with pel- 
tries. The fur trade was old. long before the stone house 
at Niagara was built. Into the general history and condi- 
tions of that trade, it is unnecessary to go in these chapters. 
But certain features of that trade, and of the attendant life, 
heretofore unrecorded save in the long-neglected documents, 
may profitably be set down here in illustration of the condi- 
tions of the time on the Niagara and the lower lakes. 



98 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

The great purpose of the French in building the new 
fort on the Niagara was to regain the fur trade which was 
fast shpping from them into the hands of the English. The 
strategic advantage of the military occupation of the strait 
was not overlooked ; but it was far less by way of prepara- 
tion for a future contest at arms with England, than to 
secure purely commercial advantage, that the work was 
undertaken. And, from the French point of view, it was 
high time that something decisive be done. More and more 
the western tribes, who ravaged the great beaver-bearing 
grounds of the upper lake region, were being drawn to 
Oswego and Albany by the superior allurements of the 
English. Longueuil, reporting to his father the baron con- 
cerning his Onondaga mission of 1725, wrote that he had 
seen more than a hundred canoes on Lake Ontario, making 
their way to Oswego. How to stop this trade was a matter 
of grave consequence to Canada. Returning from Onon- 
daga, he had encountered many canoes, propelled by Nipis- 
sings and Sauteurs from the Huron regions, making their 
way into Lake Ontario by the Toronto River, and all headed 
for the mouth of the Oswego. The new barques, he reflected, 
should stop this. The Baron de Longueuil, in reporting his 
son's discoveries, added the further information that six- 
teen Englishmen had gone to trade at the Niagara portage, 
"where they appear to have wintered, having taken there a 
large quantity of merchandise. They even came within a 
day and a half of Frontenac, and have drawn to them by 
their brandy nearly all the savages, which has done so great 
an injury to the trade of these two posts that they will not 
produce this year a half of their usual amount." The 
French at this time heard some things that were not so. 
There are many reports that the English intended to estab- 
lish themselves at Niagara ; such rumors had been current 
at Montreal and Quebec ever since 1720, when the English 
had proposed to put horses on the Niagara portage ; the 
profits of that enterprise were to be shared with a Seneca 
chief who was to represent the English. But that project 
came to naught, nor is there convincing proof that the Eng- 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 99 

lish, either in 1720, 1725, or at any other time, were on the 
Niagara in trade, during the French occupancy. 

More credible, however, was the further news, gath- 
ered by the younger Longueuil in this momentous summer 
of 1725, that EngHsh and Dutch traders at Albany had 
bought 200 bark canoes from the Ottawas and Mississaugas, 
tribes which at this period carried most of their peltries to 
the British. Longueuil saw more than sixty of these canoes, 
making the Oswego portage. It looked to him as though 
the English were bent on pushing into the upper country 
and utterly destroying the French trade, "or to come in 
superior number to Niagara to make an establishment there, 
and to prevent that which we plan to do." Longueuil took 
his hundred soldiers to Niagara in the summer of 1726, not 
more to employ them as laborers on the stone house, than to 
patrol the lake and to stop the English canoes which were 
fully expected to swarm down upon them. The English did 
not come, but the hundred soldiers were maintained there, 
apparently, a year or more. Their return to Quebec is noted 
under date of Sept. 25, 1727. 

The French did what they could to check the growing 
English trade. Voyageurs passing through Lake Ontario 
were commanded to follow the north shore, from Frontenac 
to Niagara. If found near Oswego, they were liable to 
seizure and confiscation. In 1729, this order was renewed, 
emanating from the King himself, and the commandant at 
Fort Frontenac was cautioned to enforce it. It was pro- 
posed that two canoes, carrying trustworthy men, should 
cruise on the lake and intercept any traders headed for 
Oswego. In the spring of 1736, Beauvais, commandant at 
Fort Frontenac, learned that two traders, Duplessis and 
Deniau, were making for Oswego. Alphonse de Tonty was 
sent after them. He overtook them four leagues from the 
mouth of the Oswego River, confiscated the 300 pounds of 
beaver in their canoe, and carried them back to Frontenac, 
whence they were sent to Montreal and imprisoned. After 
a trial and fine of 500 livres each, which they were too poor 
to pay, they were further imprisoned for three months. The 

tOfC. 



100 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

hope was expressed in the dispatches that this example 
would "always restrain those who might be inclined to drive 
a fraudulent trade." 

At Niagara, Capt. de Rigauville, whose command of that 
garrison extended over several troubled years, exerted him- 
self constantly to keep traders from passing along the south 
shore of the lake. His faithful services at Niagara won for 
him special recognition in the despatches. In 1733 promo- 
tion was asked for him ; but we find him, some years later, 
still in the same rank and at the same post. 

France and England being nominally at peace, the Cana- 
dian officials were wary when it came to actual conflict with 
their adversaries in trade ; they showed a wholesome respect 
for the English ability and' willingness to come to blows ; 
but armed strife would have availed them nothing in the cir- 
cumstances. The main thing was to draw the Indians. To 
this end, the Government was urged, time after time, in the 
annual and special reports of the Governor and Intendant, 
to provide ample store of goods for Fort Niagara. In 1728, 
the Minister is specially begged to send goods in great 
abundance to the new house at Niagara, that the Indians 
may be kept from going to the English. Year after year 
this request is repeated in the dispatches. Occasionally the 
Indians found fault with the quality of the ecarlatines^'^ 
supplied by the French, or with the price in barter ; but the 
one thing that killed the fur trade at Fort Niagara was the 
restriction put on the sale of brandy. A report of 1735 
says, of the tradte at Niagara and Frontenac, that it becomes 
yearly less and less, in proportion to the expenses incurred 
for it by the Crown. "These twO' posts, which some years 
before had produced 52,000 li. of peltries, for the past four 
years yielded only 25,000 to 35,000 li." All this loss was 
charged to the cessation of the brandy supply. The priests 
were reported to have refused to confess any one engaged 
in trading brandy to the Indians, and the storekeepers at 
Niagara and Frontenac were so disturbed by the decree of 
the bishop, forbidding the traffic, that they preferred to 



51. Ecarlatives, i. e., scarlatines, as some of the old records have it; 
probably coarse woolen stuff. Cf. ecarlaies, an old word for hose or legging. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 101 

relinquish their posts rather than fall under the ban of 
the church as a cas reserve^- Beauharnois, mournfully 
reviewing the situation, admitted that it was difficult to let 
the savages have brandy and keep them from getting drunk, 
"but it is equally certain that nothing so keeps them from 
trading with the French as the refusal to let them have 
liquor, for which they have an inexpressible passion." Two 
years later we read that the trade at Niagara and Frontenac 
is no better. "The suppression of the brandy trade, added 
to the bad quality of ecarlatines and low price of beaver, 
disgust the Indians who come there to trade — they pass on 
to Oswego." And still later, in 1740, the Sieur Boucherville, 
then recently in command of the garrison at Niagara, gave 
several reasons to the Intendant, Hocquart, to show why 
trade was so bad at that post. First, he said, for several 
years past the brandy trade had been forbidden at Niagara ; 
and every year there caine down from the upper country 
many canoes loaded with beaver and deer skins, but if on 
reaching Niagara the Indians could not get brandy they 
would not part with their peltries, but continued on to 
Oswego. Besides that, Indian traders in the pay of the 
English constantly intercepted the hunters as they came 
from the west and north, securing their peltries and effec- 
tively blocking the opportunities for trade with the French 
at Niagara. 

The Intendant consulted with the Minister at Versailles 
as to what might be done ; but that dignitary was able to 
suggest nothing more effective than to send messages to the 
chiefs of the Mohawks, the Oneidas, and the Onondagas, 
who were the intermediary agents of the English, that they 
must cease favoring the English trade, or their canoes would 
be stopped and pillaged. M. de Beaucourt was sent to a 
council at Onondaga, charged with this delicate mission. 
The assembled chiefs listened, apparently in complacent 
humor, and sent him away with the equivocal assurance that 
they would spread his words among the villages. 



52. Cas reserve, a grave offense, decision in which is reserved for the 
bishop or other superior officer of the Church. 



102 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

In 1740 the Sieur Michael (sometimes written "St. 
Michael") succeeded Boucherville as commandant at Fort 
Niagara, being sent there because of his supposed ability to 
build up trade ; but in official circles at Quebec, as no doubt 
generally in the gossip of the day, the opinion prevailed 
that if the fur trade at Fort Niagara was to flourish the 
amount of the annual lease should be reapportioned with 
regard to the traffic; and be accompanied by a freer dis- 
pensation of brandy. 

The fur trade at the posts was carried on in two ways; 
either by lease (bail), the Intendant giving lease-hold to the 
highest and best bidder for the trade of a post, and the rent 
giving the exclusive rights to the lessee throughout the 
extent of his post ; or by permits (conge), the Governor 
granting permissions to trade in certain forts. These per- 
mits were granted in great numbers to persons whom the 
Governor judged proper. Those who received permits paid 
a certain sum (redevance) yearly. The proceeds, whether 
by lease or by conge, were received by the Governor, who 
distributed them in pensions or perquisites to certain officers, 
in gifts and alms to widows and children of officers, or 
other expenses of this sort. If at the end of the year, there 
remained any funds accruing from this source, they were 
turned into the general treasury.^^ 

The posts of Frontenac, Niagara and Toronto at first 
were leased, but after a trial of that system, they were 
reserved for the King's trade, because of the keen rivalry 
of the English in these quarters. The lessees of these posts 
having put on their goods prices which seemed too high to 
the Indians, the English sent wampum belts among the 
tribes, with intelligence of the goods and liquor which they 
had at Oswego, and which they offered at lower prices than 
the French. As a consequence, the Indians would not stop 
to trade at Niagara. To checkmate this move, it was neces- 
sary to cancel the lease at Niagara, and at the other trading- 
posts on Lake Ontario; and by successive reductions in the 
price of goods, to regain the Indian trade. Niagara was 



53. "Memoire pour M. Francois Bigot . . .," Paris, 1763, p. 21. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 108 

more convenient for the Indians than Oswego, being nearer 
to their hunting grounds. The reduction of prices at Niag- 
ara, however, was carried so far that goods were sold there 
on royal account at less than they had cost the King. For 
some years, there seemed no middle course. The French 
saw that they must submit to this loss at Niagara, or 
renounce the Indian trade and abandon the whole region 
to the English. After all, this diminution in the price of 
merchandise was less a real loss than a diminished profit, 
because the furs which the King received in trade were sold 
at Quebec, bringing as much as and sometimes more than 
the price paid by the King for goods traded to the Indians.^* 

So unsatisfactory was the state of trade, in the years 
following the erection of the stone house, that it was pro- 
posed once more to change the system of trade there. 
D'Aigremont wrote to the Minister, Oct. 15, 1728: "I 
believe it will be advantageous to lease the posts of Niagara 
and Frontenac, for there is now much loss in the trade 
made on the King's account, and it will always be so." 

In 1727 we find Beauharnois complaining of Dupuy's 
management of the trading-posts. "He has farmed out for 
400 francs the post at Toronto to a young man who is not 
at all fit. M. d'Aigremont, to whom M. Dupuy sent the 
agreement for signature, refused to sign, saying that he 
would talk about it with the Intendant, showing him that 
this would work great wrong to the trade at Frontenac and 
Niagara." Notwithstanding all that, Dupuy returned the 
agreement next day, but he refused to sign, alleging that 
he knew of another man who for some years past had offered 
a thousand crowns"^ for the lease. The statement, which 
M. de Longueuil confirmed, illustrates the favoritism and 
"graft" for which the administration of the colony was soon 
to become notorious. 

Although the building of the stone house at Niagara 
did somewhat stimulate the traffic at that point, it by no 



54. Bigot to the Minister, Sept. 30, 1750. 

55. "Mille escus." The value of the ecu is usually given at 2s. 6d. 
English. 



104 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

means removed all difficulties. The King's account suf- 
fered much at the hands of incompetent, careless or dishon- 
est agents. In the year 1728 Saveur Germain Le Clerc, 
who was in charge of the trading at Niagara in 1727, died 
after a long illness, during which his accounts were so neg- 
lected that M. d'Aigremont, reporting on the trade of the 
posts for that year, was unable to find out what goods or 
stores had been traded or used at Niagara ; and he despaired 
of being able to tell any better the following year, "M. 
Dupuy having sent to Niagara to replace the Sieur Le 
Clerc, a man who is scarcely able to read and sign his name, 
notwithstanding representations which I have made regard- 
ing it. This man is Rouville la Saussaye, to whom was 
leased last year the post at Toronto for one year for 400 
livres. He still has that lease, which is not compatible 
with his employment as clerk ("conimis") and storekeeper 
(" garde-magazin" ) of Niagara. This lease-hold which is 
at the foot of Lake Ontario and which has been exploited 
in the King's interest in past years as a dependency of Fort 
Niagara, ought not to be leased to the storekeeper in charge 
of trade at Niagara, because of the abuses which may spring 
from it — this man may send off to the Toronto post the 
Indians who come to Niagara, under pretext that he has 
not in the storehouse there the things they ask for. Further- 
more he might make exchanges of good peltries for bad 
ones, and besides could intercept all the Indians in Lake 
Ontario, and so utterly ruin the trade at Forts Niagara and 
Frontenac." 

The representations of M. d'Aigremont were not with- 
out effect, for Rouville la Saussaye was soon succeeded by 
one La Force, who held the post for some years, though 
evidently not greatly to the King's profit. He carried on 
the barter with the Indians at Niagara, apparently in a loose 
way, with little or no balancing of books or auditing of 
accounts, from 1729 till 1738, when the Intendant, Hocquart, 
suspecting that all was not right, sent the Sieur Cheuremont 
to Niagara to investigate. The result was that La Force 
was found to be a debtor to the King's account in the 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 105 

amount of 127,842 cJiats. The chat or cat of the French 
fur-traders was probably the raccoon,^" and the meaning of 
La Force's singular indebtedness is best given in the words 
of M. Hocquart : "According to the traders' method of 
keeping accounts, the cats are regarded at Niagara as [the 
unit of] money by means of which they estimate the price 
of goods and of peltries. For instance, a blanket will sell 
for eight cats, a pound of beaver-skin for two ; similarly 
with other articles of merchandise and furs." The Sieur 
Cheuremont informed Hocquart that he had reckoned on 
La Force's account all the provisions, stores and goods for 
trade which had been shipped to him, with allowance for 
all that he had used, and accepting his own figures as to 
goods sold. The Intendant summoned the involved com- 
missary to Quebec, but when he demanded an explanation 
of the deficit. La Force could only say that Cheuremont had 
made such calculations as he chose ; as for himself, he had 
traded according to the established tariff. This tariff, he 
said, did not take into account the goods which were ruined, 
and he adduced yet other reasons for his great shortage. 
La Force had long had the reputation of a man of probity ; 
there was nothing on which to base a charge against him 
of theft. The Intendant therefore reached the conclusion 
that there had been nothing worse than great negligence in 
La Force's conduct of affairs, "and that his numerous family 
of eight or nine childi^en had considerably increased the 
expenditures." Cheuremont toiled for three months in a 
vain effort to straighten the Niagara accounts ; meanwhile 
La Force was asking to be paid 1000 livres which he claimed 
due him each year, but which were withheld from him. 

The Intendant finally in 1739 replaced La Force with the 
Sieur Le Pailleur, whom he describes as "the most honest 



56. Chat and chat saiivage are terms which are very often encountered in 
the old reports, and would naturally be taken to mean wild-cat — either the 
Lynx rufus or the Canadian lynx, Lynx Canadensis. A careful study of the 
subject by J. G. Henderson, in a paper read before the American Association 
for the Advancement of Science, 1880, reaches the conclusion that the chat of 
the early traders was really the raton of France, or in English, the raccoon. 
The fisher (Mustela canadensis), also often called wild-cat, is believed to be the 
pecan or pekan of the French-Canadian traders. 



106 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

man I can find for this employ." And again there were 
obstacles to a business-like administration of the post. Le 
Pailleur had scarcely taken up the duties at Niagara when 
he had an adventure with a mad bull, being dragged over 
two arpents of road', and thus put hors d'etat for work, so 
that for the year 1739 he was unable to keep up his trading 
accounts or even to make an inventory of merchandise in 
the storehouse. 

There are preserved many reports regarding skins 
received at the Lake Ontario posts in these years. Niagara, 
Frontenac and Toronto are often summed up in one sched- 
ule. These lists, enumerating the number of each sort of 
fur received, with the price allowed, are not without inter- 
est, for they illustrate not only the state of the market, but 
the relative abundance of different animals taken by the 
Indians. Some of the old French names of species are dif- 
ficult to identify. In the following schedule of furs received 
at Niagara and Frontenac, season of 1727, "chat" has been 
rendered as raccoon, "vison" as mink, "pecan" as fisher 
(Mustela canadensis), and "loup-cervier" as wolverene 
(Giilo Inscits). 

Valuation 
Kind. Number. Per Skin. 

Castor beaver 2580 7 li. 6s. 

Chevreiiil .buck 295 

Chevreuils verts. .. .buck (green) 1875 

Boeufs Illinois bison 4 

Cerf s red deer 844 

Orignaux moose 7 

Chats raccoon 448 28s. 

Loutres otter 167 3 li. 5s. 

Loups-cerviers wolverene 8 7 li. 

Loups-de-bois v^^olf 4 3s. 

Martres marten 247 3 li. gs. 

Grands ours bear 378 3 li. 12s. 

Oursons cub 52 \ -r ^ o 

r. , 1 if Q r 6o@38s. 

Ours moyens bear, half-grown. . . o -' 

Pecans fisher 84 4 li. 9s. 

Pichoux polecat 104 5Ss. 

Reynards rouge red fox 6 55s. 

Visons mink 5 los. 

Rat musques muskrat 8 is. 6d. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. lOT 

The above is one of many lists and schedules to be found 
in the reports of the trading-posts. Niagara and Frontenac 
are invariably coupled, and no separate mention is made of 
Toronto, which for trade purposes was regarded as a part 
of Niagara. Toronto was at first treated as a separate lease- 
hold. Later, it was made virtually a branch of Niagara. 
In 1729 we find the storekeeper at Niagara directed to send 
goods to Toronto as needed, the accounts to be included 
with those of his own post. 

While the beaver market continued good, and the animals 
themselves abundant, many other fur-bearing animals whose 
skins are now highly prized, appear to have been neglected 
by the trappers. The beaver was the great staple and object 
of trade, although at times the market so fell ofif that there 
was little if any profit in the business as carried on by the 
French. Of all our fur-bearing animals the beaver was the 
most widely distributed. Wherever the conditions of lake 
or pond, marsh or forest supplied him with the means for 
his natural habitat, there he was to be found. But the 
records, even at the very beginning of the French occupancy 
on the Niagara, indicate that at that time the beaver-hunting 
grounds were some distance west and north of the old 
Iroquois stronghold of Central and Western New York. In 
Joncaire's day the main supplies for the trade at Niagara 
appear to have been brought by Indians from the territory 
north of Lake Erie, the country around Lake Huron, and 
the remoter regions of the Lake Superior section. In 1739 
we find Beauharnois making strenuous efforts to increase 
the beaver trade by establishing posts among the Sioux. In 
that year, as at some earlier periods, war between tribes had 
interfered with the hunting; while other tribes, which 
gleaned some of the best beaver grounds, the Ottawas and 
Saulteux of Lake Huron, persistently refused to stay their 
loaded canoes at Fort Niagara, drawn to the English *'by 
the brandy distributed without measure, and cheap goods." 

The attention paid to the beaver trade in the official cor- 
respondence of Canada, even in its relation to the lower 
lake posts during the years we are considering, would fill 
an ample volume. The larger aspects of that trade cannot 



108 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

be considered, here, the present aim being only to remind 
the reader that the quest of the beaver, more than anything 
else, brought Fort Niagara into existence. 

There were amusing difficulties, in those days, on the 
part of the storekeeper at Niagara, and his brother traders 
elsewhere, in trying to make the Indians understand the 
basis of exchange. They could never be made to recognize 
the distinction between the skins of the full-grown and half- 
grown animals. One exasperated report compares the con- 
fusion growing out of this classification, to the selling of 
an old rohe de chamhre, of which the sleeves and bottom 
of the gown are sold at one price, and the back and facings 
at another, "according as the parts of this robe were near 
the body." At a meeting of agents and merchants at Chateau 
St. Louis in Quebec in 1728, it was agreed that, beginning 
Jan. I, 1730, full-grown and half-grown beavers should be 
!:aken on a valuation of 3 li. 10 s. per pound, and "castor 
veulle" ( ? old beaver) at 48 s. per pound ; a reduction from 
rates then prevailing. At this meeting was again heard the 
inevitable complaint that any effort to make the Indians 
recognize distinctions in beaver pelts made them carry their 
furs to Oswego. 

The famine of 1733 contributed to the diminution in the 
receipt for beaver, and by a fire in April of that year at 
Montreal, more than 2000 pounds were burned. 

The combined trade at Forts Niagara, Frontenac, and 
the head of the lake during the season of 1724-25 showed a 
profit of 2382 livres, 3 sols, 9 deniers — about $476 on the 
present basis of values. A report of 1725 says : "Two 
hundred and four 'green' deer-skins and twenty-three pack- 
ets made up of various furs are left at Fort Frontenac or 
Niagara, which is a mere trifle, and shows how the English 
have taken nearly all the trade away from Niagara. They 
even come to trade within ten leagues of Frontenac. More- 
over the price of furs has so fallen that bear-skins have been 
sold this year for 47s. apiece." It is difficult to fix the pur- 
chasing power of the sol (sou) at that day, but at its nom- 
inal value of a half-penny (English), it puts the price of a 
bearskin in 1725 at less than half a dollar. 



THE STORY OP J ON C AIRE. 100 

fifteen small hatchets, a barrel of prunes and another of 
salt, a white blanket and two red ones, two pieces of the 
woolen fabric called calmande, with rolls of other weaves 
indicated as estamine an daiiphine, and indienne or cotton 
print. Still another package contained wax, cotton wicks 
for candles, French thread ("fil de Reniies"), cotton cloth, 
shoemaker's thread, and blue cotton stockings for women — 
perhaps the earliest indication we have of the bas bleues in 
the Lake region. The confiscation of such a cargo of fron- 
tier necessities was a serious loss to the unlucky Desjardin. 
His large bark canoe ("canoe d'e corse de huit places") was 
also confiscated. Such was the penalty for failure to comply 
with the prescribed regulations of trade. 

Perhaps worthy of note, in these minor annals of the 
frontier, are the names of the soldiers which with those of 
Le Clerc and Joncaire, Jr., are signed to the report of the 
seizure, under date Aug. 21, 1727. Here we meet, as it 
were, St. Maurice de la Gauchetiere, La Jeunesse de Bud- 
mond, L'Esperance de Port Nevif, Sans Peur de Deganne, 
St. Antoine de Dechaillon, St. Jean de Lignery, and Bon 
Courage de Deganne. Surely, with Youth, Hope, Fearless- 
ness and Good Courage for comrades in the wilderness, to 
say nothing of the saints, life at Fort Niagara in the grey 
old days could not have been wholly forlorn. 

On a day in the spring of 1735 two canoes, deeply laden, 
came skirting the northern shore of Lake Erie to the dis- 
charge; took the good channel through the little rapids, 
and were speeded along at a pace of some six to eight miles 
an hour, past the low shores over which Buffalo now 
extends. In the wider reaches of the river at the head of 
Grand Island, where the current slackens to some two miles, 
the red voyageurs plied again the paddles, and soon made 
the ancient landing at the margin of the river above the 
great cataract. Here, as they stepped ashore, the party was 
seen to consist of eight Indians and their employer, a half- 
breed trader, who though well-nigh as dark-skinned as his 
followers, spoke the French of Quebec with fluency. There 
was a quick agreement with the resident Senecas, who car- 



110 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

ried his packs and his canoes over the old portage path, 
down to the lower river, receiving for their labors one hun- 
dred beaver-skins. Reembarking, the little flotilla hastened 
out of the Niagara and on along the Ontario shore to 
Oswego fort, where the suspicious trader stayed' on the 
strand with his canoes, sending the Indians into the fort 
to dispose of his furs. The sale accomplished, he made his 
way westward, once more stole his way past Fort Niagara, 
and after gaining again the upper river, hastened on, weary 
league on league, until he finally came again to his abiding- 
place at Missilimackinac. 

This was Joseph La France. His father was a French 
Canadian, his mother of the nation of Sauteurs, living at the 
falls of St. Mary, between Lakes Superior and Huron. Here 
he was born about 1707. His mother died when he was 
five years old, and his father took him to Quebec, where 
he spent six months and learned French. Quebec had then, 
according to the subsequent testimony of La France, "4 or 
5,000 men in garrison, it being about the time of the Peace 
of Utrecht." Returning to his people at St. Mary's, he 
resided there until the death of his father in 1723, when 
the son, then sixteen, embarked upon the career of an inde- 
pendent trader. He took what furs and skins his father 
had left him, went down to Montreal by the Ottawa-river 
route, disposed of his goods and returned to acquire a new 
stock for barter. For the next ten years or so he seems to 
have taken his furs regularly to the French. In 1734 he 
adventured in new fields, going down the Wisconsin to the 
Mississippi, and down that stream to the mouth of the 
Missouri, returning by the same route. 

In 1735, stealing by night past the French settlement at 
Detroit, for fear of being stopped, he came down Lake Erie, 
on his way to try the English at Oswego. As on the Detroit, 
so on the Niagara, he appears to have avoided the French, 
whom he subsequently reported to have "a fort on the north 
side of the Fall of Niagara, between the Lakes Errie and 
Frontenac, about 3 Leagues within the Woods from the 
Fall, in which they keep 30 Soldiers, and have about as 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. HI 

The falling off in trade in 1725, over 1724, is striking. 
Furs from the three posts above designated realized, in 
1724, 29,297 li. los. ; in 1725, only 9,151 li. 15s. 6d. Against 
the total receipts of 38,449 li. 5s. 6d. in the two years, there 
were charged 36,067 li. is. 9d. for expenses, leaving the 
balance of profit as above given. One item of expense was 
the salary of 600 livres paid to the storekeeper or agent at 
Niagara. In these figures and many others to like purport 
which are contained in the records, are to be found the real 
reason for building the stone Fort Niagara. The effect of 
that enterprise was immediate. In 1726, long before the 
new work was finished, we read : "The house at Niagara 
had a good effect on the beaver trade." Yet for that year, 
receipts from Niagara, Frontenac and "head of the lake" 
were only a little over 8,000 li., with expenses of over 13,000 
li. "This trade," says a note of Oct. 20, 1726, "is so poor 
only because the English were all the spring and part of 
the summer in the neighborhood of Niagara and gathered in 
all the best skins. There were also coiireurs de hois from 
Montreal who spent the winter in trade at Fort Frontenac, 
who made a good deal of money there. Added to all that, 
the price of skins has greatly fallen." 



XII. Annals of the Wilderness. 

A not infrequent source of disturbance and annoyance 
at Fort Niagara was the passing of unlicensed voyageurs 
and traders, many of whom brought retinues of savages, 
their canoes fur-laden, and tauntingly defied the command- 
ant at the river's mouth. As early as 1727 we found record 
of men of this class from Louisiana, coming down Lake 
Erie on their way to Montreal, and of Canadians passing 
up the Niagara on their way to the Mississippi, making off 
with cargoes of goods for which they had not paid. Efforts 
were made at Niagara to arrest this class of free-booters. 
One Claude Chetiveau de Roussel, who came up the Mis- 
sissippi and through the Lakes without a passport, was 



fo 



\J^ THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

arrested, put on board ship at Quebec, and sent to the Roche- 
fort prison. In 1732 peremptory orders were given to the 
commandant at Niagara, that the goods of all traders seek- 
ing to pass up or down the river without a permit, should 
be seized. 

As the great stone house neared completion and life at 
the mouth of the Niagara passed from the bustle of con- 
struction to the routine of a small garrison, Longueuil relin- 
quished command once more to Joncaire ; but in the latter's 
absence, in the season of 1727, a man named Pommeroy — 
the documents speak of him merely as "Monsieur" — was 
in command at the fort. The change was scarcely made 
when an incident occurred which illustrates a condition no 
doubt arising often in those days. One Desjardin, a resi- 
dent of Detroit, arrived at Niagara, "bound up" as the 
phrase is in modern lake traffic, with a canoe loaded with 
merchandise. When his pass was called for by Le Clerc, in 
charge of the trade at Niagara, he replied that a companion 
trader, Roquetaillade, who was a little ways behind with 
three more canoes, had the passes for all four. The next 
day Roquetaillade arrived with a permit for only three 
canoes. Desjardin, whose representations were seen to be 
fraudulent, had taken his goods across to the west side of 
the Niagara. Le Clerc deemed that the circumstances war- 
ranted him in seizing the cargo. With the younger Joncaire 
(Chabert junior) and other soldiers he crossed the river and 
confiscated the goods in the name of the King. The contents 
of the canoe would have stocked a country store in more 
modern times, and indicates the needs and whims of the 
far-off post of Detroit at this early day. There were goods 
for the Indians and goods for the French settlers and their 
wives : four packages of biscuit, six sacks of flour, a sack 
of gunflints, numerous guns, a bundle of leather, a large 
covered kettle and seven small kettles, 322 pounds of lead 
in five sacks, and other things, all of which were taken to 
the storehouse at Niagara. When the packages were opened 
there they revealed men's clothing, four pairs of children's 
shoes, a pair of women's slippers, boys' and men's shoes, 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. Il6 

land, and being above the great Fall of Niagara, and in the 
Neighborhood of the Iroquese, who are at present a Barrier 
against the French, and a sufficient Protection to our Fort 
and trading House at Oswega, in their Country upon the 
Lake Frontenac, who by that Trade have secured the 
Friendship of all the Nations around the Lakes of Huron 
and Errie. We should from thence, in a little Time, secure 
the Navigation of these great and fine Lakes, and passing 
to the southward, at the same time, from Hudson's Bay 
to the Upper Lake, and Lake of Hurons, we should cut off 
the Communication betwixt their Colonies of Canada and 
Mississippi, and secure the Inland Trade of all that vast 
Continent." Further on we have more details of the geog- 
raphy, real and imagined, of our region: "The Streight 
above Niagara at the Lake is about a League wide. From 
this to the River Conde is 20 Leagues South-west; this 
River runs from the S. E. and is navigable for 60 Leagues 
without any Cataracts or Falls; and the Natives say, that 
from it to a River which falls into the Ocean, is a Land Car- 
riage of only one League. This must be either the Sus- 
quehanna or Powtomack, which fall into the Bay of Chisa- 
peak." He further argues the wisdom of making a settle- 
ment on this wonderful river Conde, of building proper 
vessels there to navigate these lakes, so that "we might gain 
the whole Navigation and Inland Trade of Furs, etc., from 
the French, the Fall of Niagara being a sufficient Barrier 
betwixt us and the French of Canada," etc. It was alleged 
that the British Government might readily induce colonists 
from Switzerland and Germany "to strengthen our settle- 
ments upon this River and Lake Erie." Another sugges- 
tion was that disbanded British troops be sent on half pay 
to Lake Erie, where they would "make good our possessions, 
which would be a fine retreat to our Soldiers, who can't so 
easily, after being disbanded, bring themselves again to hard 
Labour, after being so long disused to it." The more Mr. 
Dobbs dwelt upon it the more important this particular pro- 
ject appeared. The French were to be cut off from com- 
munication with the Mississippi ; Canada was to be "made 



"i 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 



insignificant for the French." The entire free trade of 
North America was to fall into the hands of the English. 
And finally, with a burst of sentiment which recalls the 
devout aspirations of the French missionaries, but is an 
anomaly in the plans of British traders, he exclaims : "How 
glorious would it be for us at the same time to civilize so 
many Nations, and improve so large and spacious a coun- 
try ! by communicating our Constitution and Liberties, both 
civil and religious, to such immense Numbers, whose Hap- 
piness and Pleasure would increase, at the same Time that 
an Increase of Wealth and Power would be added to 
Britain." ^« 

Life at Fort Niagara never ceased to be dependant on the 
King's provision ships. If the annual shipment came early 
in the season, the garrison abated its chronic discontent in 
reasonable assurance that it could endure until spring on 
the inevitable flour and pork. But often the ships reached 
Quebec so late that the annual cargo of food and other neces- 
saries could not be sent through to Niagara until the follow- 
ing spring. In 1732 the Ruby, bringing subsistence for the 
forest garrisons, reached Quebec late in September. The 
utmost dispatch was made, but the supplies designed for 
Niagara got no further that fall than Frontenac. The 
winter of 1732-33 was a most severe one, the meager har- 
vests of the colony had been even smaller than usual, and 
there were privation and distress in the towns as well as at 
the lake posts. At Niagara they felt the additional burden 
of the smallpox, which this winter ran through the Iroquois 
villages, interfering with the usual hunting and trapping. 
In the summer of 1733, stimulated by the urgent tone of the 
official reports, the King's ship anchored off Quebec on 
July 9th. Even with this early arrival, it was September 
before the barrels of flour which she brought were safe in 
the storehouse at Niagara. In 1734, the Ruby arrived, 
August i6th; but in 1735 there was another failure to re- 
ceive anything; the Niagara provisions indeed reached 



58. See "An Account of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay," etc., 
by Arthur Dobbs, London, 1744. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. -U6 

many more with them as Servants and Assistants ; these," 
he added, "have a small trade with the Indians for Meat, 
Ammunition and Arms."^^ Probably his dealings with the 
English became known to the French; for later, when he 
went again to Montreal with a cargo of furs, although he 
gave the Governor a present of marten-skins and looo 
crowns, for a license to trade the following year, the Gov- 
ernor would neither give the license nor restore the money, 
charging La France with having sold brandy to the Indians, 
and threatening him with imprisonment. La France escaped 
from Montreal, and toilfully made his way up the Ottawa, 
reaching Lake Nipissing, after forty days of paddling and 
portaging. At Mackinac he gathered another stock of furs 
and set out once more to try his fortunes with the French ; 
but on the way to Montreal, in the Nipissing [French] 
River, he suddenly met the Governor's brother-in-law with 
nine canoes and thirty soldiers. They took all he had and 
arrested him as a runaway without a passport ; but he made 
his escape through the woods at night, and after weeks of 
hardship returned to St. Mary's, resolved to be done for 
ever with the French. Having lost all, he determined to go 
to the English at Hudson's Bay. His subsequent adventures 
belong to the history of the fur trade of the far north and 
west. His testimony, given in an enquiry regarding the 
operation of the Hudson's Bay Company, affords many use- 
ful glimpses of the conditions of the time. 

La France was the type of a class of men who at this 
period were a source of great trouble alike to the French 
and the English. The French especially, at Frontenac, at 
Niagara and Detroit, were exasperated by their disregard 
of the conge, their unlicensed brandy-selling to the Indians, 
and their journeys to the upstart British post at Oswego. 
As La France made his way past Fort Niagara, with canoes 
loaded to the gunwale with winter furs, the French of that 



57. La France was the first man of whom we have record, to cross from 
Lake Winnipeg to Hudson's Bay. The account of his presence on the Niagara 
is found in Vol. II of the "Report from the Committee appointed to enquire 
into the State and Condition of the Countries adjoining to Hudson's Bay, and 
of the Trade carried on there," etc., London, 1749- 



\^ 



H6 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

little garrison, if not indeed Joncaire himself, may have 
noted the passing-, standing impotent to prevent it, or per- 
chance enraged by the yells and derisive cries of the defiant 
freebooters, no longer at pains to conceal themselves when 
once safely past the fort. 

There developed in England at this time a considerable 
outcry against the monopoly enjoyed by the Hudson's Bay 
Company ; and an ingenious advocacy of free trade in North 
American fur-gathering. The experiences of Joseph La 
France provided a fruitful text for those who, like the 
author of "An Account of the Countries Adjoining to Hud- 
son's Bay," etc., undertook to show their countrymen and 
their king how British trade might be extended in the Lake 
Erie region, and the French at the Lake Erie and Niagara 
posts utterly routed. Arthur Dobbs, who combined with 
the natural British hostility to the French, a bitterly critical 
attitude towards the Hudson's Bay Company, set forth at 
length in his book views which no doubt met the approval 
of many of the British public of his day. Curiously enough, 
one of his strongest arguments was based on a map-maker's 
blunder. On the large map which accompanies his work, 
the Great Lakes are shown, with "the great fall of Niagara" 
properly indicated at the outlet of "Conti or Errie Lake." 
The whole region of the Lakes is shown, as accurately on 
the whole as on many another map, up to that time ; but run- 
ning into Lake Erie, a few miles south of the present site of 
Buffalo, the unknown geographer has added a stream of 
considerable size, and named it "Conde River." Its real 
prototype, in the annals of earlier explorers, may have been 
the Cattaraugus or Eighteen-Mile Creek ; but here we have 
it, shown unduly large, as the only stream entering Lake 
Erie, its head-waters coming from vague mountains to the 
southeast. 

Contemplating this stream, and the exigencies of the fur 
trade in the region, Mr. Dobbs saw a great opportunity for 
the British, "by forming a Settlement on the River Conde, 
which is navigable into the Lake Errie, which is within a 
small Distance of our Colonies of Pennsylvania and Mary- 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. ilT 

traders; but if even half of them were afraid to risk Ni- 
agara, and chose to forward by canoe down the Ottawa 
route, he figured that even then the profit with the barques 
would be considerable. Each packet paid in freight twenty- 
five livres. Mackinac to Montreal, by the Niagara, where 
the Ontario barques would receive them. It was recom- 
mended that the Lake Erie craft be built "five or six leagues 
above the Niagara portage," and the promoter thought that 
with a master and four sailors for each vessel, business could 
begin, especially if soldiers from Fort Niagara and other 
posts could be called on for service when required. 

This was probably the first project for trade by sailing 
vessels from the Niagara to the upper lakes, since the disas- 
trous voyage of La Salle's Griffon, fifty years before. The 
Government did not lend its aid, and the plausible and elabo- 
rate memoir bore no immediate fruit. 

With the growth of trade and settlement at Detroit, and, 
from about 1730, the increasing substitution of the Niagara 
route over that of the Ottawa — the grande riviere of the 
toilful old days — traffic adjusted itself to a recognized tariff; 
so that, in the latter days of the period we are studying, if 
not indeed to the very end of the French dominion on the 
Lakes, transportation by the Niagara route was to be 
counted on for its fixed charges as much as any inland trans- 
portation by boat or rail is today ; but how different the 
items! The Detroit merchant of say 1730, returning home- 
ward from Montreal with goods, brought them by canoes or 
flat-boats to Fort Frontenac, there transferred them to the 
little barque that took its chances with all the winds of 
heaven, on the long traverse to Fort Niagara, some seventy 
leagues, as the old sailing-masters made it. Reloaded on 
batteaux, the freight was poled and pulled up the Niagara, 
to the foot of the portage. There, in the earlier years, each 
packet and cask was hoisted to the shoulders of an Indian or 
Canadian engage, for the hard climb up the levels and 
through the forest, some seven miles to the point of reem- 
barking above the cataract. Just when horses or oxen were 
first used on the portage road is uncertain. We know that 



H8 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

the English had proposed to use them there, in 1720, and 
that the French did use them for a number of years. All 
this transportation was paid for by a percentage on the 
weight. The cost of outfit, too, was considerable. If the 
merchant owned his own canoe — a canot de maltre, of six 
or eight places — it cost him at least 500 francs. For the 
journey, he paid his six engages, who not only paddled the 
canoe but helped make the portage, 250 francs each. The 
needed food for the journey would include at least 100 
pounds of biscuit and twenty-five pounds of pork or bacon, 
per man. These with other necessaries brought the cost of 
equipment and maintenance to 2,260 francs. Such are the 
actual figures of one "voyage." 

It has been noted that the winter's supplies occasionally 
failed to reach the Niagara garrison. Sometimes the sup- 
plies which were there were bad. There was a serious 
state of affairs in 1738, owing to the wretched quality of 
flour furnished by the Government for the subsistence of 
the garrison. The supply was eked out by Canadian flour, 
of which there was great scarcity. The commandant, to 
head off, if possible, the desertions to which the soldiers at 
Niagara were always prone, if not indeed a mutiny of the 
whole garrison, sent several officers as an express to Mont- 
real. They reported that the soldiers were absolutely unable 
to live on their short rations of bad bread and salt meat, and 
begged that better supplies be sent. Some relief was gained 
from the Canadian harvest, and the spoiled French flour 
was shipped back from the lake posts to Montreal. 

In the summer of 1729, life at the little garrison had been 
disturbed by a mutiny among the soldiers, due probably to 
bad food and not enough of it. Whatever the cause, it made 
a most crucial season for Rigauville, commandant at the 
time. The prime mover in the uprising was one Charles 
Panis, and with him in rebellion were Laignille, La Joye, 
one Bernard — "called Dupont," — and so many others that 
the maintenance of any discipline at all was in jeopardy. 
The especial enmity of the mutineers was directed against 
the commandant and Ensign Ferriere. A Government sec- 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 119 

Frontenac, and were loaded on a batteau ; but when the lum- 
bering, laden craft essayed the autumnal lake, a gale drove 
her ashore and the trip was abandoned — with what result at 
the waiting garrison, may be imagined. There, short rations 
and bad more than once bore fruit in mutiny and desertion. 
Again the Government sought to atone for the costly delays 
of one season, with excess of zeal in the next ; so that in 
1736 the King's ship was at Quebec on August 7th, and in 
the next summer the Jason arrived August 8th. And so it 
went, with varying uncertainty, the efficiency and well nigh 
the existence of Niagara depending largely on the modicum 
of attention it might receive from the Minister and his 
agents in France. 

Although the two barques which had been constructed at 
Frontenac in the winter of 1725 were only eight years old 
in 1733, one of them had then become unfit for service, so 
that there remained but one sailing vessel on Lake Ontario 
that season. The Intendant, Hocquart, sent four ship-car- 
penters to Frontenac to repair the other, but they found it 
so far gone that the best they could do was to take the iron- 
work from it and build a new vessel. This they did, at an 
expense of some 5,000 livres. The second boat, says a re- 
port of that summer, was greatly needed to carry goods to 
Niagara. 

At Detroit, after the first few bitter years, conditions for 
self-maintenance were far better than they ever were at 
Niagara. The latter post never had the thrifty class of set- 
tlers about it, which very early began to provide flour and 
other produce not only for Detroit but for Mackinac and 
other upper-lake posts as w^ell. 

So productive were those early grain fields about Detroit 
that in 1730 a memoralist of the Crown — possibly De 
Noyan, though this particular memoriaP^ is not signed — 
seeking certain privileges in the western trade, unfolded a 
plan for supplying Niagara with flour. To further this 
project, the Government was asked to build one or two 



59. "Memoires concernant I'etat-present du Canada en I'an 1730," MS. 
copy in the Archives Office, Ottawa. 



130 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

light-draught vessels ("barques plates") to navigate be- 
tween the Niagara, Detroit and the upper lakes. The ad- 
vantage of such vessels, in case of Indian troubles, was 
pointed out : soldiers could be quickly transported. But the 
opportunities of trade loomed large in the eye of this specu- 
lator. At present, he wrote, it costs the voyageurs twenty 
livres freight per packet of furs, from Detroit to Montreal. 
With the desired sailing vessels the furs could be carried 
for ten or twelve livres per packet. Detroit would gather 
from its tributary country annually i,ooo to 1,200 packets; 
Mackinac and the upper posts could be counted on for 
2,000 more. The petitioner knew well the conditions of the 
fur trade. The voyageurs — canoe freighters — reached 
market by the Ottawa route. By the Niagara route he pro- 
posed to carry them at fifteen livres each. Thus on 1,000 
packets from Mackinac he counted on 15,000 livres, and on 
1,000 from Detroit, 10,000 more; and 25,000 livres freight 
receipts in one season should have appealed to a ministry 
accustomed to know only of outlay in connection with the 
lake posts. 

True, some expense must be incurred, to start the busi- 
ness. This plan contemplated the construction of a pali- 
saded warehouse above the Niagara fall, at a point where 
the barques could make easy and safe harbor. The portage 
road was to be extended and improved. There would have 
to be a clerk at the warehouse above the falls, and carts for 
carrying the peltries down to the lower river — the landing 
of the old Magazin Royal — where two flat-boats would be 
needed to convey them on down to the mouth of the river 
each summer in July or early in August. The desired 
barques, it was urged, could make at least three voyages, 
Niagara to Mackinac, between June and mid-August. On 
their first down trip they could bring away the furs col- 
lected in the neighborhood of Mackinac ; on the second 
and third trips, they would take the packets which by that 
time would have been brought in from the Lake Superior and 
more distant posts. The author of this memoir foresaw the 
prejudice which he would have to overcome among the 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. ^+»1 

"avocat en parlement ," romancer and adventurer at large. 
According to his own testimony, this young man, a native of 
Rochelle, went to Paris in 1729, and in the same year was 
drawn from his legal studies into a voyage to Canada. Ship- 
wrecked in the St. Lawrence, he arrived at Quebec, in sad 
plight, June 18, 1729. He found employment as a clerk in 
the fur business {"bureau du castor"), where he continued, 
making his home with the Recollect Fathers, for more than 
a year. He ran away from sober pursuits, in March, 1731, 
and took to the woods with two Indians. His many adven- 
tures are too numerous, and of too little consequence, to 
make even a summary of them worth while here. His nar- 
rative puts the time of his arrival at Niagara in June, 1731, 
and under sufficiently fantastic conditions. He was accom- 
panied, with other Indians, by his mistress, an Abenaki 
maiden, with whom he had exchanged clothes. He had 
resorted to this and other disguise to avoid arrest by the 
French as a deserter. A long story is made of his encounter 
with soldiers from Fort Niagara, and of his final sanctuary 
in Seneca villages. He says that letters were received from 
Montreal, by the commandant at Fort Niagara, ordering his 
arrest, if he appeared in the neighborhood. 

Needless to say, no mention of Le Beau is found in the 
official correspondence. His book has for the most part the 
air of truth ; he is precise with his dates, and in his account 
of Indian customs shows much accurate knowledge. Among 
the things that tell against him are his allusions to a Jesuit 
priest, Father Cirene, among the Mohawks ; but this name 
is not found in all the Relations of the order. His account 
of Niagara falls is dubious ; he says they are 600 feet high. 
This is La Hontan's figure of many years before. Le Beau 
has much to say of La Hontan and his misrepresentations, 
but the indications are that he accepted one of that gay offi- 
cer's wildest exaggerations, and that he may never have 
seen Niagara at all. He probably came to Canada and had 
some experience among the Indians ; and when he wrote his 
took, chose to so enlarge upon what he had really seen and 



I 1 
122 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

experienced, still holding to a thread of fact, that the result 
has little interest as fiction, and no value whatever as his- 
tory.^^ 

Chapter XIII. Joncaire Among the Shawanese — His 
Death at Niagara. 

From the time of the establishment of Fort Niagara, 
Chabert Joncaire the elder was more and more an object of 
jealousy and hatred for the English. It was not without 
reason that they ascribed to him the success of the French 
on the Niagara. Now rumors began to fly. It was reported 
to the French King, on the word of Sieur de La Corne, that 
an Indian had promised the English that the house at Niag- 
ara should be razed, and that the Iroquois had been bribed 
by the Albany people to get rid of Joncaire. Louis ap- 
proved the order to send word to Joncaire himself of all 
this, and instructed him to learn the truth of these reports, 
and to prevent the accomplishment of English designs. As 
the English at this time were making lavish presents to the 
Indians, Joncaire's task was no light one. They even sent 
wampum peace belts to remote tribes — to the Indians of 
Sault St. Louis, the Lake of the Two Mountains, to the 
Algonkins and Nepissings, inviting them all to remain quiet 
while the Iroquois were tearing down Fort Niagara. When 
the English overtures took any other form than substantial 
gifts, the Indians tired of them. As we have seen, to the 
English demand that the Iroquois should allow them to 
build a fort on the west side of the Niagara, opposite the 
French establishment, the savages replied that they did not 
wish to be troubled further about it ; that they did not regret 
having given their consent to the French ; and if the Eng- 



6i. See the "Avantures du Sr. C. Le Beau, avocat en parlement, ou 
Voyage curieux et nouveau, parmi les Sauvages de I'Amerique Septentrionale," 
etc., Amsterdam, 1738. So far as I am aware, this curious book has never 
been published in English. While the cause of history would scarcely be pro- 
moted by such a publication, yet it is singular in these days of reprinting any- 
thing that is old and curious, that no publisher has given us a new edition — 
"with notes" — of Le Beau. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 12^ 

retary, Bernard, who was at Niagara at the time auditing 
the accounts of the store-keeper, was sent off post-haste to 
Montreal with a report of the affair. Beauharnois promptly 
sent back Captain Gauchetiere and Ensign Celoron, with a 
detachment of twenty trusty men to replace the rebels. The 
latter were taken to Montreal, where they were held under 
arrest, in irons. An affair followed which made more of a 
stir than the original mutiny. The uprising at Niagara had 
occurred on July 26th. It was not until after a long and dan- 
gerous delay that the oft'enders were brought to trial before 
a council of war, which in due time, pronounced sentence. 
Laignille and La Joye were condemned to be hanged and 
broken {"petidus et rompus"] ; while Dupont, a deserter, 
was merely to be hanged. Early in the morning of October 
i8th, before the executions were to take place, one of the 
condemned men cried out for help for his comrade, who 
feigned to be sick. The jailor's daughter ran to them, but 
scarcely had she opened the door of their dungeon, than the 
three criminals, who had broken off their irons, threw them- 
selves upon her, overcame the sentry, climbed over the pali- 
sades and ran away. The gallows and platform, which had 
been made ready for the executions, were surreptitiously 
taken down and carried off, by whom the authorities could 
not learn. As it was deemed necessary to make an example 
of someone, the jailor was removed from his post, though it 
was not shown that he was in any wise responsible for the 
escape. There is no record found that any of the seditious 
soldiers were punished. 

The official reports became very fretful over the matter. 
It was complained that the priests and women had meddled 
with the affair, creating sympathy for the prisoners. The 
whole system of procedure was criticised ; there had been 
shown a complete ignorance of the laws and ordinances. 
"There is scarcely an officer in the country, and especially at 
Montreal, who knows how to conduct a procedure of this 
sort." "If the officers who composed the council of war had 
been instructed in the ordinance of July 26, 1668, the execu- 
tion of the criminals need not have been delayed more than 



L3^V 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 



twenty-four hours," etc. The Governor and Intendant took 
the occasion to renew with great urgency their frequent re- 
quest that more troops be sent to the colony. 

As for "Charles Panis," the instigator of the Niagara 
mutiny, he was put aboard the French vessel St. Antoine, 
and sent to Martinique in banishment. The governor there 
was requested to hold him forever as a slave, forbidding 
him ever to return to Canada or to go even to the English 
colonies. This culprit, whose name is written in the docu- 
ments as Charles Panis, may not unlikely have been Charles, 
a Panis or Pani, the name by which the French designated 
the Naudowasses or slave Indians. These people occupy a 
strange position in the history of North American tribes. 
In Joncaire's time, they are frequently found as slaves and 
menials not only among the Senecas and other warlike 
tribes, but among the French. Nor is it wholly improbable 
that such an Indian should have been the instigator of a 
mutiny among French soldiers, for more than once in the 
records may be found mention of Panis who served with the 
French troops. Several of them, in Pean's following, were 
killed at Fort Necessity in July, 1754. In 1747 a runaway 
Panis was shipped from Montreal to Martinique, there to 
be sold for the benefit of his owner. Facts like these, and 
the further fact that "Panis" is an unlikely French name, 
pretty clearly point out the character of the instigator of the 
mutiny at Fort Niagara.'"' 

As for Laignille and his lawless associates, they no 
doubt soon found their way into the ranks of coureurs de 
bois and unlicensed trafifickers with the Indians, not improb- 
ably allying themselves with some remote tribe, where they 
forever merged their identity with that of their savage asso- 
ciates. The wilderness lodges were harbingers of many a 
white outlaw in those days. 

To the period we are considering, belongs — if it belongs 
to history at all — the Niagara visit of the Sieur C. Le Beau, 



60. Details of the Fort Niagara mutiny are given in a report of Beau- 
harnois and Hocquart to the Minister, Oct. 23, 1730, and in other documents 
of the time. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 125 

lish wished to build on the Niagara, they must settle it with 
"Onontio" ; as for them, they would not interfere ; °- which, 
after all, was not bad diplomacy on the part of the savage. 

For the next few years Joncaire's chief employment was 
to inform his superior officers of English intrigues among 
the Iroquois, and to thwart them by his experience and in- 
fluence. He was among the Senecas on such a mission in 
1730, the Sieur de Rigauville being then in command at Fort 
Niagara. 

It was at this time (1730) that he appears to have essayed 
to repeat, at Irondequoit bay, his achievements on the Ni- 
agara, but without a like success. I find no record of the 
enterprise in the French documents ; the English report of 
it puts Joncaire in a ridiculous role. It was Lawrence 
Claessen who carried the news to Albany in the autumn of 
this year, that Joncaire with a following of French soldiers, 
had gone among the Senecas and told them "that he having 
disobliged his governor was Duck'd whip'd and banished as 
a malefactor, and said, that as he had been a prisoner among 
that Nation, and that then his life was in their hands, and as 
they then saved his life, he therefore deemed himself to be a 
coherent brother to that Nation, and therefore prayed that 
they might grant him toleration to build a trading house at 
a place called Tiederontequatt, at the side of the Kadarach- 
qua lake about ten Leagues from the Sinnekes Country, and 
is about middle way Oswego and Yagero [Niagara] 

and that he the said Jean Ceure entreated and beg'd 
the Sinnekes that they would grant him liberty to build the 
aforesaid Trading house at that place, in order that he 
might get his livelyhood by trading there and that he might 
keep some Soldiers to work for him there whom he prom- 
ised should not molest or use any hostility to his Brethren 
the Sinnekes," etc., etc. He was further said to be an emis- 
sary of the Foxes. 

Some correspondence ensued, on this extraordinary re- 
port by Claessen. The commissioners for Indian affairs at 
Albany made it the subject of a long letter to representa- 



62. Marquis de Beauharnois to the Minister, Sept. 25, 1726. 



126 THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 

tives of English interests among the Senecas, but even they 
saw the absurdity of Joncaire having a following of French 
soldiers if he had been banished from Canada. The part 
assigned to him in this affair by the Dutch interpreter is at 
utter variance with what we know of Joncaire's character 
and employment at this time. 

The more one studies the old records, with the purpose of 
gaining therefrom a true conception of Joncaire's character 
— of discovering just what manner of man he was, and what 
is his true position among the men who made the history of 
his times, the less does he appear as a half- wild sojourner 
among the savages, the more is he seen to be a man of char- 
acter, of marked ability to control others, and of some social 
standing and culture, as those qualities went at the time. 
His own letters, written in a day when many, even men of 
affairs, knew not how to hold a pen, testify to the excellent 
quality of his mind. He had the reputation among his 
brother officers of being a braggart; but even those who 
charged him with it, admitted that his achievements, espe- 
cially in handling the Senecas, gave good warrant for boast- 
ing. 

For forty years his relations with the missionaries, espe- 
cially of the order of Jesuits, were intimate. His association 
in his early years with Fathers Milet, Bruyas and Vaillant 
has been noted in the narrative. For Charlevoix he became 
host on the banks of the Niagara, and no doubt gave the 
priest many useful suggestions for his famous journey up 
the Lakes in 172 1. It was Joncaire who told Charlevoix of 
the famous oil spring at Ganos,*'^ now near Cuba, N. Y. 
"The place where we meet with it," wrote Charlevoix, "is 
called Ganos ; where an officer worthy of credit [Joncaire] 
assured me that he had seen a fountain, the water of which 
is like oil and has the taste of iron. He said also that a little 
further there is another fountain exactly like it, and that the 
savages make use of its waters to appease all manner of 



63. Ganos is derived from Genie or Gaienna, which in the Iroquois sig- 
nifies oil or liquid grease (Bruyas). This oil spring is in the town of Cuba, 
Allegany Co., N. Y. The other referred to is in Venango Co., Pa. 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 127 

pains." Joncaire may have been the first white man to visit 
these or other oil springs in the region, and so, possibly, to 
become the discoverer of petroleum. But others had heard 
of them, whether they visited them or not, long before Jon- 
caire's day. The "Relation" of the Jesuits for 1656-57, 
edited by Lejeune, says, in its description of the Iroquois 
country: "As one approaches nearer to the country of the 
Cats [i. e., the Eries], one finds heavy and thick water, 
which ignites like brandy, and boils up in bubbles of flame 
when fire is applied to it. It is moreover so oily that all our 
savages use it to anoint and grease their heads and their 
bodies." Father Chaumonot was among the Senecas in 
1656, as were, at various times, Fathers Fremin, Menart and 
Vaillant. These or still other missionaries may have been 
led to the oil springs more than half a century before Jon- 
caire ; to whom none the less belongs some credit for making 
them known. 

One of the few students of our history who have discov- 
ered in Joncaire anything more than a rough soldier and 
interpreter, erroneously calls him a "chevalier," and pictures 
him as especially zealous in behalf of the Roman Catholic 
religion. "To extend the dominion of France," says Wil- 
liam Dunlap, "and of the Roman religion, this accomplished 
French gentleman bade adieu to civilized life, and by long 
residence among the Senecas, adopting their mode of life, 
and gaining their confidence, he procured himself to be 
adopted into the tribe, and to be considered as a leader in 
their councils. His influence with the Onondagas was about 
as great as with his own tribe. By introducing and support- 
ing the priests, and other missionaries, employed by the 
Jesuits and instructed by the Governor; by sending intelli- 
gence to Montreal or Quebec, by these spies ; by appearing 
at all treaty councils, and exerting his natural and acquired 
eloquence — it is necessary to say, he was master of their 
language — he incessantly thwarted in a great measure the 
wishes of the English, and particularly set himself in oppo- 
sition to the Government of New York. But the views of 



128 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

Burnet, in regard to the direct trade, backed by the presents 
displayed to the savages, met their approbation in despite of 
Joncaire and the Jesuits." Dunlap adds that the conduct of 
Joncaire is only paralleled by that of the Jesuit Ralle 
[Rasle] . "It is not improbable," he continues, "that Joncaire 
as well as Ralle, was of the Society of Jesuits, for it is the 
policy of this insidious combination that its members shall 
appear as laymen, in many instances, rather than as ecclesi- 
astics."*'* 

Obviously hostile, with the old-time prejudice of his kind, 
to the work of the Catholic missionaries, Dunlap neverthe- 
less does a certain justice to Joncaire, in bringing out this 
phase of his activities. There is no warrant found in the 
documents for the supposition that Joncaire was a member 
of the Society of Jesus; many things indicate that he was 
not. Nor was he, probably, above the average standard of 
morality among the French soldiers of his day — a type, as 
we well know, not conspicuous either for piety or purity. 
But it remains true that Joncaire's services among the 
Senecas were calculated to help on the efforts of the mis- 
sionaries, who found him an invaluable ally against the un- 
godly English. 

There exists, of date 1725, a memoir "by a member of the 
Congregation of St. Lazare," in which various measures are 
urged to prevent the English from working injury to the 
colony of Canada and the cause of true religion among the 
Indians. The author suggests that the Recollects (who were 
Franciscans), should be allowed to remain at any posts 
where they then were, in capacity of missionaries or chap- 
lains ; and that in these capacities they be sent to posts 
which should thereafter be established, where regular paro- 
chial organization could' not be effected; but that the 
Jesuits, who preferred to be missionaries among the Indians 
rather than chaplains at the French posts, might nevertheless 
be established at Niagara, "in order that from this post they 



64. "History of the New Netherlands," etc., by William Dunlap (N. Y., 
1839), Vol. I, pp. 286, 287. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 129 

may carry on their mission among the Iroquois. It is highly 
important to the Colony to establish and to maintain these 
missions in the interests of France. To the end that the 
Jesuits may find means to hold the Iroquois nations it is 
desirable to give to them a tract of land near Niagara where 
they may build a house and make an establishment." 

This plea for a Jesuit establishment at Niagara, which^ 
plausibly, was made with the knowledge and endorsal of 
Joncaire, was not granted ; but when the new post was gar- 
risoned, it is probable that the first priest who as chaplain 
accompanied troops thither, was a Jesuit. The traditions of 
the post already associated it with that order. At least three 
Jesuits had been at the short-lived Fort Denonville on the 
same spot — Fathers Enjalran, Lamberville and Milet. No 
priest is mentioned among the soldiers who brought new life 
and stir to the old plateau in 1726. The first clergyman of 
whom we find record at Fort Niagara was Father Emmanuel 
Crespel, also a Jesuit, tie was stationed there for about 
three years from 1729, interrupting his ministrations there 
with a short sojourn at Detroit where a mission of his order 
had been established. 

Of Fort Niagara at this time he says : "I found the place 
very agreeable ; hunting and fishing were very productive ; 
the woods in their greatest beauty, and full of walnut and 
chestnut trees, oaks, elms and some others, far superior to 
any we see in France. The fever," he continues, "soon 
destroyed the pleasures we began to find, and much incom- 
moded us, until the beginning of autumn, which season dis- 
pelled the unwholesome air. We passed the winter very 
quietly, and would have passed it very agreeably, if the ves- 
sel which was to have brought us refreshments had not en- 
countered a storm on the lake, and been obliged to put back 
to Frontenac, which laid us under the necessity of drinking 
nothing but water. As the winter advanced she dared not 
proceed, and we did not receive our stores until May." 
Father Crespel records that while at Niagara he learned the 
Iroquois — probably the Seneca — and Ottawa languages well 



130 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

enough to converse with the Indians. "This enabled me," 
he writes, "to enjoy their company when I took a walk in 
the environs of the post."^^ The ability to talk with Indians 
afterward saved his life. When his three years of residence 
at Niagara expired, he was relieved, according to the custom 
of his order, and he passed a season in the convent at Quebec. 
While he was, no doubt, succeeded at Niagara by another 
chaplain, it is not until some years later that we find in the 
archives any mention of a priest at that post. 

In 1 73 1 Joncaire entered upon a new service, which, 
apparently, was to be his chief employment for the few re- 
maining years of his life. He was now past sixty years. 
Grown gray in the King's service, seasoned by a lifetime of 
exposure and arduous wilderness experience, wise in the 
ways of the Indian, and understanding the intrigues and 
ambitions of the English, he was preeminently a man to be 
entrusted with an important mission. It is not to be inferred, 
however, that his lifetime of service on the outposts had cut 
him off from the official, the military or the domestic asso- 
ciations of Quebec and Montreal. The latter town, then of 
not above 5,000 inhabitants, was his home ; and there, from 
1707 to 1723, Madame de Joncaire bore to him, as we have 
already noted, ten children, the eldest of whom, Philippe 
Thomas, and his younger brother Daniel, known respectively 
as Chabert the younger and Clausonne, are both to bear a 
part in the history of the Niagara. In 1731, Chabert, Jr., 
then about twenty-four years old, accompanied his father 
to the Senecas' villages, and probably to Niagara. He had 
even then "resided a long time among those Indians" and 
was "thoroughly conversant with their language." But now 
he was to be intrusted with new responsibilities; he was to 
assume the role which his father had filled for so manv 



65. "Voiages du R. P. Emmanuel Crespel, dans le Canada et son naufrage 
en revenant en France. Mis au jour par le Sr. Louis Crespel, son Frere. A 
Francfort sur le Meyn, 1742." There are numerous editions: ist German, 
Frankfort and Leipsig, 1751; 2d French, Frankfort, 1752; Amsterdam, 1757; 
an English edition, 1797, etc., with numerous variations in title. The rare 
first edition was reprinted at Quebec in 1S84. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 131 

years among these vacillating and uncertain people. Re- 
porting on these arrangements to the French Minister, de 
Maurepas, in October, 1731, Beauharnois wrote: "There is 
reason to believe that Sieur de Joncaire's presence among 
the Iroquois has been a check on them as regards the Eng- 
lish, and that by keeping a person of some influence con- 
stantly among them, we shall succeed in entirely breaking up 
the secret intrigues they have together. On the other hand, 
the Iroquois will be more circumspect in their proceedings, 
and less liable to fall into the snares of the English, when 
they have some one convenient to consult with, and in whom 
they will have confidence. Sieur de Joncaire's son is well 
adapted for that mission." 

The story of this son, and his share in Niagara history, 
belong for the most part to a later period than we are now 
considering. It may be noted here, however, that it was 
Chabert the younger who, in the winter of 1734, came from 
Montreal to Fort Niagara on snowshoes, bringing letters 
from the Governor. He returned through the heart of New 
York State, visiting the Iroquois villages en route. He was 
then in his twenty-seventh year ; active, hardy, speaking the 
Seneca and probably other dialects of the Iroquois as well 
as his native French, "wise and full of ardor for the ser- 
vice." Later in this year he was serving in the company 
commanded by Desnoyelles, and from this time on his 
career becomes more and more a part of Niagara history. 

It is plain that no credence was given by Beauharnois to 
the reports reflecting on the integrity of the elder Joncaire's 
character. That he was thoroughly loyal to the French 
might also be inferred from the responsibility of his new 
mission. He was entrusted with the removal to a new place 
of residence of the Chaouanons. 

These people are better known as the Shawanese. To 
enter fully into their history here would be to travel afar 
from our especial theme. It will suffice to state that they 
were of southern origin. About 1698, three or four score 
families of them, with the consent of the Governor of Penn- 



182 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

sylvania, removed from Carolina and established themselves 
on the Susquehanna, at Conestoga. Others followed, so that 
by 1732, when the number of Indian fighting men in Penn- 
sylvania was estimated at about /cxd, one half of them were 
Shawanese immigrants. About the year 1724 the Delaware 
Indians, in quest of better hunting-grounds, removed from 
their old seats on the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, to 
the lower Allegheny, upper Ohio and its branches, and from 
1728 the Shawanese gradually followed them. 

The friendship of these Ohio Delawares and Shawanese 
became an object of rivalry for the British and French; the 
interests of the latter among them were now confided to 
Joncaire. The vanguard of the Shawanese migrants appears 
to have gained the upper Ohio as early as 1724, for in that 
year we find that Vaudreuil had taken measures to weld 
them to the French. An interpreter, Cavelier, had been sent 
among them, and had even induced four of their chiefs to go 
with him to Montreal, where they received the customary 
assurances of French friendship. At this date, the Ohio 
Shawanese numbered over 700, but their attachment to the 
English appears to have been even greater than to the French. 
They evidently paid some respect to the authority of the 
French in the Ohio valley, for on this Montreal visit they 
asked if the French Governor "would receive them, and 
where he would wish to locate them." Beauharnois replied 
that he would "leave them entirely at liberty to select, them- 
selves, a country where they might live conveniently and 
within the sound of their Father's voice" — i. e., within 
French influence ; "that they might report, the next year, 
the place they will have chosen, and he should see if it were 
suitable for them." 

In the spring of 1732 Joncaire reported to the Governor 
that these Indians were settled in villages ("en village" ) 
"on the other side of the beautiful river of Oyo, six leagues 
below the River Atigue. The "Beautiful river," or Ohio, 
at that time designated the present Ohio and the Allegheny 
to its source. The Atigue*'" was the Riviere au Boeuf, now 



66. See Bellin's "Carte de la Louisiana." 



THE STORY OF JONCAIRE. 133 

known as Le Boeiif creek or Venango river. This seat of 
the Shawanese, therefore, was a few miles below the present 
city of Franklin, Pa. To them Joncaire was remanded with 
gifts and instructions to keep English traders away, and to 
do all possible to cement their friendship with the French. 

In this connection may be noted a curious statement made 
by an old Seneca chief, whose name is written by the French 
as Oninquoinonte. Being with Joncaire at Montreal in 1732, 
the Seneca made a speech to the Governor in which he said : 
"You know, my father, it is I who made it easy to build the 
stone house at Niagara, my abode having always been there. 
Since I cannot conquer my love for strong drink, I surrender 
that place and establish myself in another place, at the port- 
age of the Le Boeuf river, which was and is the rendezvous 
of the Chaouanons." He added with unwonted ardor, that 
the French were masters of all this region, and he would 
die sooner than not sustain them in their work of settling the 
Shawanese. 

A fair degree of success appears to have rewarded Jon- 
caire's efforts. He is hereafter spoken of as commandant 
among the Shawanese, and his residence for a considerable 
part of each year was in the beautiful valley that stretches 
between long-sloping hills below the junction of the Venango 
and the Allegheny. Already a historic region, it was des- 
tined in a few years to be the scene of important events 
which should link its story yet more closely with that of the 
Niagara. Here at the junction of the rivers, Washington is 
to camp on his way to demand that the French withdraw 
from the region. Here France is soon to stretch her chain 
of forest-buried forts, that rope of sand on which she vainly 
relied for the control of a continent. 

The disposition to migrate further west, shown by sev- 
eral of the Indian tribes at this period, gave a remarkable 
turn to the policies of the rival white nations on the con- 
tinent. It was an early wave in the movement of an in- 
evitable flood ; though there is little in the old records to in- 
dicate that either the English or French saw very far into 
the future, or gave much heed to anything save relations 



134 THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 

of immediate profit and advantage. The migrations of the 
Shawanese covered many years, and included many re- 
moves. In 1736 Joncaire found his villages on the Alle- 
gheny restless with the prospect of a new settlement in the 
vicinity of Detroit, on lands ranged over by their friends 
the Hurons. The next year, the sale by the Senecas and 
Cayugas of certain lands on the Susquehanna, near where 
some of the Shawanese had continued to live, started a new 
migration, and fostered bitterness towards the English. 
From this time on for many years — for many years indeed 
after the fall of New France — we find traces of the Shaw- 
anese at many points in the Ohio and Mississippi valleys ; 
and not until the French were finally forced out did the 
rivalry cease for the friendship of these shifty and uncer- 
tain savages ; not, obviously, for the sake of that friendship, 
but because the rival Powers deemed it essential for their 
control of the inland highways and of the fur trade. 

Regarding the proposed settlement at Detroit, the Shaw- 
anese pledged themselves to Joncaire to go to Montreal in 
the spring of 1737, "to hear the Marquis de Beauharnois 
discourse on their migration." Louis XV., whose phrase 
has just been quoted,^^ thought that the proposed settlement 
"is very desirable, so as to protect the fidelity of these In- 
dians against the insinuations of the English. But the de- 
lay they interpose to that movement induces His Majesty to 
apprehend that the Marquis de Beauharnois will meet with 
more difficulties than he had anticipated, and that the Eng- 
lish, with whom His Majesty is informed they trade, had 
made sufficient progress among them to dissuade them 
therefrom." 

And the main instrument on whom both Governor and 
King relied was the veteran Joncaire. But the time of his 
achievements was at an end. On June 29, 1739, he died at 
Niagara. A band of Shawanese, conducted by Douville de 
la Saussaye, reached Montreal on July 21st following, and 
carried the news of the death of the veteran. As the dis- 



67. Dispatches, Versailles, May lo, 1737. 



THE STORY OF J ON C AIRE. 185 

patches speak of the receipt at Montreal of news of his death, 
and do not state that his body was carried there, the con- 
clusion is at least plausible that he was buried somewhere at 
Niagara. 

On Sept. 12, 1740, the Five Nations sent a deputation to 
Montreal, where they addressed M. de Beaucourt, the Gov- 
ernor, with much ceremony and the presentation of many 
wampum belts. "Father," said their spokesman, extending 
a large belt, ''you see our ceremony ; we come to bewail your 
dead, our deceased son. Monsieur de Joncaire ; with this belt 
we cover his body so that nothing may damage it. . . . 
The misfortune which has overtaken us has deprived us of 
light; by this belt [giving a small white one] I put the 
clouds aside to the right and to the left, and replace the sun 
in its meridian. Father," the orator continued, holding out 
another string of wampum, "by this belt I again kindle the 
fire which had gone out through our son's death" ; then, by 
way of condolence, with still another belt : "We know that 
pain and sorrow disturb the heart, and cause bile ; by this 
belt, we give you a medicine which will cleanse your heart, 
and cheer you up." Eight days later, the Governor, who 
had been detained at Quebec, sent reply to the warriors : 
"You had cause to mourn for your son Joncaire, and to 
cover his body ; you have experienced a great loss, for he 
loved you much. I regret him like you." The marquis 
promised to send back with them Joncaire's son, already 
well known to them. "He will fill, near you, the same place 
as your late son. Listen attentively to whatever he will say 
to you from me." And thenceforth, in the affections of the 
Senecas of Western New York, the son is to reign in his 
father's stead. The story of Chabert de Joncaire the elder 
is ended. 

Note. — Much of the data in the foregoing chapters, especially chapters 
XI. and XII., is drawn from the imprinted " Correspondence Generale," and 
accompanying memoires, special reports and letters preserved in the Archives 
at Paris, and in part, by means of copies, in the Archives at Ottawa. 

Erratum. — Page i, for " Le Barre," read " La Barre." 




















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